


Coffee and Confusion

by whythefujamievenonthis



Category: Holby City
Genre: Dofty - Freeform, Gay, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2018-12-13 00:05:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 62,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11747991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythefujamievenonthis/pseuds/whythefujamievenonthis
Summary: Since Dom tried to kiss Lofty, things just haven't been the same (for either of them). Dom tries to hide his still apparent feelings, whilst Lofty tries to figure out his own. Will the pair be able to come to a mutual understanding? Maybe their relationship is irreparable, or maybe it turns into something much more...





	1. A State of Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Lemme know what you think in the comments: hate comments, appreciation comments, critiques on what I could improve etc. Go for it! I'd really appreciate it <3
> 
> Special thanks to everyone who helped edit this! I can't tag you (if i can I don't know how) but you know who you are and I can't thank you enough

It was another morning in Holby; as Lofty (coffee in hand) made his way to the elevator he saw Dom already standing there, talking to someone on his phone. Dom ended his call just as Lofty stood next to him. For a while there was an icy silence between the two of them; things just weren’t quite the same since that kiss… When the elevator doors finally opened the two of them stepped in, both heading for the Keller Ward. It seemed they would continue the elevator ride in silence until Lofty spoke:

 

“Who were you speaking to? Guessing it was Zosia?” asked Lofty, making a shaky attempt at starting conversation.

 

“No, just my friend Chris. Why?”

 

“Oh, no reason I guess… I got you a coffee- I mean, I bought it for myself but they got my order wrong and gave me black coffee when I asked for milk and sugar. You drink black coffee though, right?” He stumbled over his words as he offered the to-go cup of caffeine to Dom.

 

“Oh, thanks, yeah I drink it like that.” replied Dom quietly, taking the cup from Lofty’s hand. For a brief second, their hands touched in the exchange, making them both immediately look up at each other, only neither of them looked away. They stood there looking at each other for a long while, not breaking eye contact. Dom felt his cheeks go warm and Lofty could feel his heart rate climbing, but neither of them looked away. Lofty couldn’t help but notice Dom’s blue-green eyes; just as Dom couldn’t help but take note of the lone curl that had fallen in front of Lofty’s face. It seemed they would never break eye contact; until the elevator doors opened onto the Keller ward. The pair of them immediately realised what they were doing, and looked away from each other, and Lofty quickly hopped off the elevator to make his way over to the changing room.

 

“Enjoy the coffee!” He said, briefly turning around to face Dom (a smile across his face), as he walked away towards the staff changing rooms. He intended to walk to the door before opening it, but he was walking too far to the left and ended up walking into the door frame instead. Lofty blushed with embarrassment as he fumbled to open the door, when he finally did he immediately closed it behind him and attempted to act like nothing happened. Dom couldn't help but chuckle at Lofty's clumsiness, it was too cute!

 

“Thank you Lofty...” Murmured Dom to himself, feeling slightly awkward. He still had feelings for Lofty, even after he told him he was straight. Even after he said they were just friends. Even after the blatant rejection… he didn’t want to let go. He quickly went to the bathroom and then headed for the changing rooms to get dressed into his scrubs; when he opened the door the first thing he saw was a shirtless Lofty (obviously still getting changed into his uniform).

 

“Oh, God sorry Lofty, I should’ve knocked-”

 

“It’s alright Dom, we’re friends!” 

 

Friends. Dom nearly winced at that word. Being friends was the exact opposite of what he wanted to be with Lofty. 

 

“Yeah. Yeah, we are. I’ll be getting changed too then.” 

 

Dom soon realised he was staring, quickly hiding the fact he was blushing and went to his locker. The next few minutes were spent in silence as Dom forced himself to not look at Lofty getting changed. _Essie was right._ He thought to himself,  _I must've been blind for thinking he was a 5._  He tried to think of conversation starters but no sound came out of his mouth when he would try to speak. Just as he was about to try and speak again, Lofty broke the silence:

 

“The group is gonna go down the pub tonight: Sasha, Essie, Me, Zosia and Ollie. We were just gonna ask Zosia but then thought it’d be nice to ask Ollie too. I said I wanted to be the one to ask you, do you want to come with us?”

 

“You wanted to be the one to ask me? Why?” Dom asked as he felt butterflies fly around his stomach.

 

Lofty suddenly looked embarrassed as he quickly responded with, “No reason. Are you coming or not?”

 

“Ye-Yeah, I’ll be there, definitely!”

 

“Ok, great.” Responded Lofty, for a moment no one said anything, looking awkward again Lofty continued, “Well I’ll see you on the ward. Bye.” He quickly stopped himself at the door frame, turned around to face Dom and spoke again, “I’m happy for you Dom, I hope things go well for you!” He flashed what seemed like a less than genuine smile, then hurriedly left the changing room, leaving Dom on his own.

 

_Odd_. Dom thought to himself, _Lofty doesn’t normally act like that. He seems a bit off, and what was with that whole “I’m happy for you” thing?_ Dom tried to shrug it off as he left the changing room and entered the Keller Ward, greeting Essie and Sacha as he headed over to his first patient of the day. He’d be working with Lofty for all his patients (as per usual), but today he felt awkward about it, especially because of the way Lofty had acted this morning. He walked over to his first patient of the day, Lofty was already there going over the patient's stats.

 

“Morning Lofty!”

 

“Yeah..” Responded Lofty, he seemed sad somehow.

 

“Are… You ok?” Asked Dom, a worried tone to his voice.

 

“I’m fine.” Said Lofty adamantly, “I’m gonna go take the patient’s blood for examination.” he continued, quickly walking away. 

 

Dom stood there, dumbfounded. _What was wrong with Lofty?_ It made no sense why he had such a sudden mood change since this morning, he seemed energetic when they were talking in the elevator. The rest of the day was spent in awkward silence (with only the occasional nod or shake of the head as communication), Dom could only feel hurt at Lofty’s sudden distaste toward him. It really hurt him. He could hear his own heart aching in the deafening silence between them and the end of the day could not come soon enough. People began to notice the lack of communication between the pair, and when lunch time rolled around, Essie pulled Dom to one side to talk:

 

“So, what’s happened?” 

 

“I honestly don’t know Essie, he was fine when we were in the elevator together but then when we were in the changing room together his mood went sour. And it’s only gotten worse from there!” 

 

“You two need to talk, and soon.” 

 

“I know. But maybe… maybe he can tell I still have feelings for him?”

 

“Look, I can’t answer that but whilst we’re all at the pub tonight, make sure you talk to him alone and sort it all out. Lofty is acting weird with everyone, Sacha just tried to talk to him to see if he was alright and he got all defensive, which isn’t like him at all. Look, I’ve got to go back to the main desk, I’ll see you tonight!” Essie gave Dom an encouraging smile before walking away.

 

When the end of the day came, for a brief second, Dom was relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with Lofty’s silence, until he realised that they’d both be going to the pub that night. Lofty was stood outside the entrance of the hospital when Dom walked out, his arm linked with Essie’s. Lofty tried to smile but it quickly faded, Dom tried to ignore his own suddenly increasing heart rate, and the butterflies in his belly. For a while the three of them just stood there, until Lofty spoke:

 

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Something… bad happened today and it put me in a sad mood. I’ve been really terrible to you guys, I’m so sorry. I understand if you don’t want me to come to the pub tonight.”

 

“No, Lofty don’t be stupid! Of course we still want you to come! It wouldn’t be the same without you.” Exclaimed Dom, “What happened to make you feel sad? We were worried, you’re never like that.”

 

Lofty stared at Dom for a long while before responding, “Nothing. Nothing you need to worry about, it’ll be ok! I’ll get over it eventually. Let’s just get down to the pub! Eh?”

 

“Yeah, let’s go then.” Responded Dom, still curious as to why Lofty behaved the way he did.

 

The three of them walked down to the pub together, Dom and Essie chatting on the way but Lofty still remained quiet. When they entered the pub: Sacha, Zosia and Ollie were already there, Sacha seemed a bit awkward being sat next to Zosia and Ollie (since they were being extremely lovey-dovey with each other) so much so that when he noticed Essie and Dom and Lofty walk in, a look of relief washed over him.

 

“First round of drinks is on me guys, as a way to apologise to you all, what do people want to drink? I know Dom will want a pint of Carling, but I don’t know what everyone else drinks.”

 

“You don’t have to do that Lofty…” Responded Dom.

 

“I want to. I’ve been in a poor mood all day, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you guys. This is the least I can do.”

 

“If you insist, I’ll have a glass of white wine please Lofty, Sacha will have a pint too.”

 

“A pint for me and Ollie as well please!” Chimed in Zosia.

 

“Zosia, I don’t think you’re included in his offer.” Smirked Dom, finding humor in how easily Zosia could just ask for free drinks.

 

“No it’s alright Dom, I’ll get them drinks too! So that’s 5 pints, me included, and a glass of white wine for Essie. I’ll be back in a bit!” said Lofty as he made his way over to the bar.

 

                                                                                                   [A COUPLE HOURS LATER]

 

“Let’s play truth or dare!” Suggested Zosia, well and truly drunk at this point. Lofty’s mood and body language seemed a lot more open and happier now he was having a good time (which made Dom happy), and the two were sat next to each other when Zosia suggested they play the game. Immediately Sacha and Essie agreed and so did Dom, Lofty thought about it for a bit before responding “Go on then!”

 

“Right, we’ll go around the group and take turns asking questions or giving out dares. I’ll start! Sacha, truth or dare?”

 

“Oh, well um.. Truth!”

 

“Hmm…. Would you date Essie again if she asked you out?” At any other (sober) occasion, the question might have seemed rude or invasive, but because everyone was pretty drunk no one cared.

 

“Good one! Wow, I dunno. She’s great but I think that’s all ancient history, right? I guess if there’s a chance, if, in some odd way we realised we wanted to try again, that I might consider it. Right, my go now, I choose… Dom!”

 

For the next hour or so, truths and dares were passed around the group, and as they all got drunker, their dares and truths became wilder. Lofty seemed pretty drunk by the time it was Zosia’s turn to ask another question:

 

“Right! Me again, so I chose Lofty! Truth or dare?”

 

“I’ll go with a dare this time!”

 

Zosia seemed to think for a while, but when she saw Lofty and Dom sat together, an idea immediately came to her, “Oh! I’ve got it, I’ve got it. I dare you to kiss Dom, right now!”

 

A loud “Ohhhhhhhh!” was heard from the rest of the group, as Lofty began to blush profusely and Dom stared hard at Zosia: he didn’t know if he was pissed at her for doing it because she knew he liked Lofty; or to hug her for giving him an opportunity because she knew he liked Lofty. 

 

“I-I don’t want to do anything that Dom isn’t okay with…” 

 

“I’m okay with it. As long as you are that is?”

 

“Yeah, I’m completely okay with it! I mean, it’s just a dare, I’d look a bit stupid if I couldn’t do it wouldn’t I?”

 

“Well, okay then! I guess we’re doing this.”

 

Nothing happened for a while, they both just stared at each other. Both unsure of what to do now the situation was in full swing. Lofty slowly brought himself closer to Dom (still blushing) and gently cupped the side of Dom’s face with his hand, they were both still staring at each other and Dom could feel a whole swarm of butterflies flapping around in his stomach. He felt his heart rate increase at Lofty’s close proximity and he felt his ears go warm and his cheeks blush. Lofty then brought his head closer to Dom, _Oh God_ he thought to himself _This is it, but he doesn’t even like me - he doesn’t even like men!_ And then Dom felt Lofty’s lips press against his own. He knew Lofty would soon pull away at any second, so he tried to savour the moment that would soon end. Only, it wasn’t ending - Lofty wasn’t pulling away, in fact, he was still kissing Dom and before Dom could process what was happening he was already kissing back. _Shit_ thought Dom (still kissing Lofty) _I just fell head over heels in love with a straight guy_. Lofty was gentle but still the dominant one in the kiss, it was as if he knew exactly what to do and Dom loved it. Still kissing, Dom grabbed Lofty by the front of his shirt and kissed back more, he knew it was going to end and that Lofty was only doing it for a dare, but the kiss felt so genuine it was like fireworks were going off in his mind. When the two of them eventually pulled away, the rest of the group was in stunned silence (not expecting things to get so intense between the two of them). When Dom turned to face him, he saw a single tear roll down Lofty’s face.

 

“I’m so sorry. I have to go.” He said, grabbing his bag and jacket and quickly leaving the pub.

 

“Shit. Lofty!” Exclaimed Dom as he immediately ran after him. Dom was confused at Lofty’s tears, he didn’t mind if Lofty didn’t explain why he was crying, he just wanted him to be okay. Dom ran out of the pub into the car park, where he saw Lofty walking towards an empty Hackney. “Lofty!” He cried out, “Please, don’t go, we need to talk. It hurts when you ignore me!” Lofty then turned around to face Dom; and Dom felt his heart fall to his stomach at the sight of Lofty’s face, which was covered in tears.

 

“Please Dom, do not make this more painful for me than it already is, I just want to go home and forget this happened.” Begged Lofty, his voice shaking.

 

“Lofty please, I want to talk…”

 

“What about? There’s nothing to say, I’m fine, and you’re fine with your boyfriend. Everything’s good.”

 

“No you’re not!” Proclaimed Dom, ”And what boyfriend? I haven’t dated anyone since Isaac!”

 

“Then who is Chris? You were talking to him this morning.”

 

“Chris? Chris is short for Christie! We go to the gym together, and we’re friends. Lofty, you still haven’t answered me - you can’t keep saying you’re fine all the time when you're really not.”

 

“It’s not that big a problem Dom, it’s not important-”

 

“Yes it is! All those rounds of drink you buy us at the pub, the stuff you buy me and Sacha and Essie when we have hangovers. The way you spent so much time getting me off those steroids; when you bought me that Clacton on Sea jigsaw and you went on a date with someone just so you could get me tickets to a band I like! All the times you refused to give up, and always believed I was a good person despite the fact I was being a complete prick to you! You even gave me your coffee this morning! You do so much for everyone, but I don’t see you doing anything for yourself.”

 

“I gave you that coffee because I couldn’t drink it.”

 

“Yes but if you’d told them that they got your order wrong, they would’ve given you a new one, or you could’ve thrown it away! You kept hold of it and gave it to me. Lofty do you not get what I’m trying to say! You spend your time making everyone else happy but you don’t focus on you. And you deserve to be happy-”

 

“No I don’t!” Yelled Lofty, “No, I don’t Dom I really, really don’t deserve to be happy. You don’t understand. I’ve hurt so many people…”

 

“What are you talking about? What do you mean you don’t deserve it? You’re one of the nicest people I know.”

 

Lofty didn’t speak for a long, long while as if considering whether or not he should tell Dom what he was about to say: “Remember when Lenny came to the hospital? The guy who told everyone how I left his sister at the altar?”

 

“Yeah, I do?” Responded Dom, unsure how a patient from so long ago could have anything to do with their conversation.

 

“When I used to work here before, I was responsible for the death of another nurse. Everyone tried to comfort me and tell me it was an accident, but the guilt I felt was too much. I resigned from Holby not long after. And that’s when I met Lenny’s sister, Alice. We got engaged way too quickly, but she made me feel good Dom, and at that point, I hadn’t felt good in a long time. Me and her brother didn’t get on, so in order for us to stop fighting she had us go to a Radiohead concert together, to try and get us to bond. When we were there, our hands touched briefly. I tried to tell myself it was a one off thing and that it didn’t mean anything; but when he ended up in ICU later that year I realised…”

 

“Realised what?” Said Dom, hoping Lofty would continue.

 

“That I loved him.” Just saying those words seemed to make Lofty cry harder, like all the bad memories had come flooding back, “So I ran away, I ran away the day I was meant to get married to Alice and came back to Holby. And then… I met you. I met you and you made me forget: you made me forget all the people I’ve hurt and you made me smile and laugh and feel good again. You made me genuinely happy Dom, just by you being there, I forgot how sad I was. I forgot about the fact I’m a bad person. But as time went on, I realised I wanted to be more than friends with you.”

 

“Lofty, what are you trying to say?” Asked Lofty as a balloon of hope inflated inside him.

 

“Dom, I’m in love with you.” Lofty was full on crying at this point, tears were streamed down his face as he choked out his words.

 

“But, but you pulled away from me when I tried to kiss you that day. Why the sudden change of heart recently?”

 

“Dom I had feelings for you a long while before you tried to kiss me. I really did want to kiss you back, but I knew I didn’t deserve it. I don’t deserve you. After what you went through, the last person you need is me by your side. But tonight, I don’t know if those drinks gave me the nerve to follow through, but Zosia’s dare seemed like the only opportunity I had. I’ve said too much, you must hate me after hearing all that. I’m so sorry, I have to go.” 

 

Lofty immediately turned to leave, walking away towards the Hackney that was still there, but Dom immediately ran towards Lofty and hugged him from behind, making Lofty stop dead in his tracks:

 

“Lofty if you’re gonna leave, then there are some things I want to tell you before you go.”

 

“O-okay.” Responded Lofty, stuttering slightly because of the tears.

 

“What happened with Lenny and Alice was out of your control; like Isaac hurting me was out of mine. You can’t control who you fall in love with Lofty, you had no intention of hurting either of them, I know that. You have no intention of hurting anybody for that matter. Lofty you are a good person, who ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You are handsome and attractive and kind and hardworking and so much more. I don’t hate you for being honest, in fact, I respect you for it. Lofty I really do love you, and you’re the only person I want to be by my side.” Lofty was shaking like a leaf at this point, and Dom felt tears brimming in his own eyes, the two of them stood there for a long while, Dom still just holding Lofty in a huge hug from behind, “Lofty, please turn around so I can hold you properly?” 

 

“I don’t want you to see me like this.”

 

“I want to see your face.” Responded Dom, gently turning Lofty around to face him, Lofty’s face was still painted in tears and sadness. Just seeing him like that made Dom’s throat hurt from trying to stop himself from crying. Suddenly, Lofty hugged Dom back, a tight hug; a bear hug kinda hug that people only give when they really need it. He fell to his knees from shaking so much and Dom went with him, hugging him back and letting Lofty bury his head into his shoulder. Lofty’s sobs grew louder as Dom comforted him as best he could. For a while the two of them just held each other in the middle of the car park, when Lofty had calmed down and the tears had mostly stopped, Dom broke the sad silence:

 

“Please let me be in love with you Lofty, I promise you won’t hurt me…”

 

For a long while, Lofty didn’t respond until he finally spoke: “I’m not the most attractive guy, and I’m clumsy, and I make mistakes and I don’t notice important things and I have a habit of making bad choices and I hurt people. But I know that I’m also entirely, madly in love with you Dom. I know you said you love me, but after Isaac, I understand if you don’t want to be in a relationship right now-”

 

“Lofty!”

 

“Sorry, went on a bit of a tangent there… I do that sometimes, I think.”

 

“What are you trying to say?”

 

Lofty stared long and hard at Dom, as if trying to build up the confidence and courage to speak again, until he finally blurted out: “Dom will you please be my boyfriend?”

 

Dom immediately went in and kissed Lofty, it was apparent he didn’t want to but Lofty eventually pulled away so he could speak:

 

“I’m hoping I can take that as a yes?”

 

“Definitely!” Dom responded, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat.

 

“There’s… something else I need to be honest about though Dom.”

 

“What is it?” Asked Dom, nervous in case it was something else majorly important.

 

“That coffee. It was always meant for you. I just didn’t want to look weird, I didn’t want you to think I was weird, I don’t even drink coffee to be honest.”

 

The two of them looked at each other before bursting out in joint laughter, the sudden build of tension died as the two of them laughed in each other’s arms, eventually, the pair picked themselves up from the floor of the car park, and then Dom spoke again:

 

“Want to go back to the pub?”

 

“Ehh, I always find pubs a bit too loud for me. I’d rather be at home watching a movie… care to join me?”

 

“Nothing would make me happier Lofty.”

 

That night the the pair of them went home together hand in hand, they could both tell that it was the start of something new. A something that was filled with coffee and late night shifts and kisses and and unintended smiles, for the pair of them, it was the start of an adventure they were excited to be apart of, together.


	2. His Knight In Shining Armour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going really well in Lofty and Dom's relationship and it's their one month anniversary! They both expect to have a good day until Lenny shows up at the hospital. He soon finds out about Lofty's relationship with Dom and things take a turn for the worst...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, feel free to call me out on mistakes because I'd greatly appreciate it. Any comments are welcome whether they're negative or positive :) I hope you enjoy reading! <3

It was an early morning start when Dom arrived for his shift at Holby, but he didn’t mind. Maybe it was the fact he’d eaten a healthy breakfast, or that he’d gotten a proper sleep the night before but Dom knew why he was in such a good mood: today was his one month anniversary with Lofty. He was pretty sure Lofty wouldn’t have remembered something so trivial (he was already pretty forgetful) but he didn’t mind, it had been the best month of his life and he was excited for more. Essie and Sasha were taken aback by Dom bubbliness when he entered the ward, so much so that they stopped him on his way to the changing rooms:

 

“Dom, are you… alright?” Asked Essie.

 

“Of course, couldn’t be better!”

 

Essie and Sasha shared a look of concern before Essie spoke again, “The thing is, you hate early morning shifts, this is the happiest we’ve seen you on an early morning start. You’re never even this happy when we clock off for the day, or when we go to the pub! Are you sure you didn’t hit your head before getting here?”

 

“I’m not some ice man that’s always in a bad mood, now, have you seen Lofty? He had a late shift last night.”

 

“Ahhh, that explains it.” Expressed Sacha, “He’s the reason for you good mood I’m guessing? Yeah, he stayed in the staff overnight room last night.”

 

“Thank you!” Responded Dom cheerfully, walking away to the room where Lofty was probably still asleep.

 

“He wasn’t struck with cupid’s arrow you know Essie…”

 

“What?”

 

“He was bloody impaled by it.”

 

           ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Dom reached the overnight room, he opened the door quietly and made his way over to the bed Lofty was sleeping in. He squatted down to Lofty’s eye level and tried his best to wake him up nicely:

 

“Lofty… Lofty it’s time to wake up!” He whispered, “You need to wake up!” he said a little louder. But Lofty wasn’t budging, for a while Dom just watched the rise and fall of Lofty’s torso as he gently breathed in and out. It was a peaceful silence until Sacha walked in.

 

“Is he not waking up?” He asked.

 

“Nope, not moving an inch. He must be pretty tired from last night.” Dom responded.

 

“You would be too, a patient collapsed last night and he had to go and help in the surgery, wasn’t an easy operation either: it took two and a half hours for them to save the patient's life. He’s probably shattered.”

 

“You sure we can’t give him another 15 minutes?”

 

“No can do, since the trauma unit got shut down we’ve been packed, and today will be no different! Want me to wake him?”

 

“You can give it a go, I’ve had no luck.”

 

There was a long pause before Sacha finally loudly yelled out “Lofty wake-up Dom’s in trouble!”

 

Immediately Lofty sprung out of bed, letting out a loud “Dom!” as he scrambled to find his shoes and shirt. It took him some time to realise that Dom was, in fact, perfectly fine and he let out a long sigh of relief as he hugged Dom (as if he was double checking that he really was okay). Dom couldn’t help but feel happy - Lofty woke up immediately when told he was in trouble.

 

“You had me worried there!” Exclaimed Lofty, “I thought something really bad happened. Did I oversleep?”

 

“Not yet, but the ward is packed again, we need all the help we can get so I had to wake you.”

 

“That’s fine,” Responded Lofty as he let out a long yawn, “But don’t make me think I might lose Dom, just to get me up for work.”

 

“Deal. I’ll need you two on Keller as soon as possible, congratulations by the way Lofty! I hear that surgery was a huge success. If Hansen hears about it, you might be looking at a bit more than just a well-done card!”

 

“Thanks Sacha, we’ll see you and Essie on the ward!” Responded Lofty, still half asleep.

 

Sacha then left the pair alone and went back out onto Keller, Dom then immediately gave Lofty a kiss to which he happily obliged, but out of the corner of his eye (just before the door had closed behind Sacha), he could see Lenny stood there, staring at the two of them. Lofty was unsettled by the cold glare, but ignored it as Dom spoke:

 

“Sacha’s wake up call wake you up then?” Said Dom, laughing slightly.

 

“It did a bit, but your kiss did a much better job.” Lofty responded, giving Dom a quick peck on the cheek before getting changed into a spare set of scrubs he’d kept in his bag. When he was finally fully dressed, the two of them walked out onto the Keller ward together. But Dom noticed Lofty looked deep in thought:

 

“Penny for your thoughts Lofty?” Asked Dom.

 

“Yeah… When you kissed me just then, did you see Lenny outside the door too?”

 

“Lenny? Like, Lenny the guy you used to like Lenny?”

 

“Yeah, that’s him.”

 

“No, I didn’t notice him, why?”

 

“He was giving us this glare, I didn’t like it... Dom, can you do me a favour?”

 

“Yeah of course!”

 

“Stay away from him. He looked angry and I don’t want him getting anywhere near you, okay?”

 

“Okay, I promise.”

 

“Thank you Dom.” Said Lofty, giving Dom a quick kiss on the forehead before they headed over to Bed 4, where their first patient of the day was. Lofty’s face immediately fell when he discovered who he’d be treating: Lenny and Alice. Lenny was sat in a chair next to Alice who was sat in the hospital bed (already in her hospital gown).

 

“A-Alice?” Stuttered Lofty, still shocked at them both being there.

 

“Hi, Lofty.” She responded calmly. After what had happened that morning Lofty didn’t want to make eye contact with Lenny, but he forced himself to say a quick hello (only to be met with cold silence as Lenny ignored him). Dom, sensing the tension, quickly entered the conversation (much to Lofty’s relief):

 

“So, Alice, what brings you to Keller?”

 

“I was in the shower and I felt dizzy and then I fainted. It was probably because of the heat from being in there too long - I hurt my ankle so Lenny insisted I get checked over..”

 

“You might have seriously hurt yourself.” Responded Lenny adamantly.

 

“And you’re being paranoid!” Responded Alice, she then turned to Dom and spoke again, “Maybe you can give him something too, he’s been acting paranoid like this for weeks!” she joked.

 

“Well, he’s right. Plus he’s just looking out for you.” Said Lofty, “We’re gonna have to take you for head scans, to make sure you didn’t do any serious damage to yourself after fainting.”

 

“Lofty!” Called Essie from the main desk, “Can you come over hear dead quickly?”

 

“Alright!” Called back Lofty, “I won’t be long.” he said as he walked over to the main desk.

 

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence between Dom, Lenny and Alice, and Dom was just about to walk away before Lenny spoke:

 

“You his next victim then?” he muttered.

 

“Lenny!” Alice hissed.

 

“Excuse me?” Asked Dom, confused.

 

“Lofty. I saw you two this morning. He’s playing you, he’s done it to everyone.”

 

“I’m not his victim, I’m not a victim full stop. We are very happy together if you must know-”

 

“Did he tell you what he did to us?” Asked Lenny smugly.

 

“Lenny don’t do this now.” Pleaded Alice.

 

“Yes he did actually. He told me everything, and I still love him. Look, I’d appreciate it if we didn’t talk about our private lives. We can keep this professional, that way, nothing gets in the way of your sister’s treatment here, okay?”

 

“Listen to him Lenny.” Said Alice.

 

“How can you just sit there and be okay with it? He hurt you!” Exclaimed Lenny, clearly angry.

 

“It was a long time ago, of course it hurt and it still sort of does. But he made a clean break with us so we can both start again - and I appreciate that. Lenny you’ve got to learn to not be bitter about the past. I made my peace with it, it's about time you did the same.”

 

Lenny immediately jumped out of the chair he was sat in and stormed off, you could almost see steam come out of his ears he was so angry. Alice didn’t look bothered, like they’d had the same conversation before with the same outcome.

 

“Are… You really okay?” Asked Dom.

 

“Yeah I’ll be fine, I don’t think I hit my head that hard when I fell-”

 

“No, I mean about what happened with Lofty. About... me and Lofty.”

 

“That? Yeah, I’m fine with it. He was bound to find someone else to make him happy, there’s no point being bitchy anymore. Waste of time, right?”

 

“Yeah, it’s a waste.” Responded Dom, remembering his own past.

 

“Besides… I got a new man in my life!” She said with a smile, “And if you want I can tell you some stories about Lofty?” She offered with a kindly smirk.

 

“Oh well I can’t refuse that!” Dom responded, eager to hear more about Lofty. He turned to see Lofty was still at the desk, chatting to Essie and Sacha.

 

“Tell me everything!” He begged eagerly.

 

A few minutes into Alice and Dom talking, Lofty went into the changing room looking for Essie’s bag: she’d asked him to look for her purse so she could buy lunch that day (unable to look herself from being so overrun with paperwork). He didn’t mind doing it and it meant more time away from Lenny, Alice seemed fine about knowing he and Dom were together, but Lenny seemed pissed about it. Whilst looking, Lofty noticed a post-it note on his locker that read:

 

“STORAGE ROOM A.S.A.P - Dom”

 

 _It’s all in block capital letters_ Lofty thought to himself, _Must’ve left it here whilst I was at the desk. He must want to talk about something important._ He gave up the search for Essie’s purse and immediately made his way over to the storage room, when he finally got there and opened the door he couldn’t see anyone. “Dom?” He said as he made his way into the room, he was met with silence and a feeling of unease grew inside him, “You said you wanted to talk?” he continued. When he made his way to the center of the room, he heard a loud thud as the door behind him slammed and locked shut. He immediately turned to face the direction that the noise came from, only to see Lenny stood there with rage in his eyes. Lofty quickly noticed the glinting blade of the box cutter that Lenny had in his hand.

 

“Yeah, Ben.” He muttered, “Let’s talk.”

 

      -------------------------[HALF AND HOUR LATER]-------------------------

 

“Dom!” Called Essie from the main desk, still swamped with files and reports.

 

“Yeah?” He responded, still mid conversation with Alice. They were talking about the time Lofty tried to feed a goose, only to be chased by it, and Dom was eager to hear more.

 

“Have you seen Lofty? I asked him to get my purse from the changing room and it’s been like, half an hour.”

 

“Half an hour?” Repeated Dom, shocked by how much time had passed. “No, I haven’t seen him Essie.” He paused for a bit before turning to speak to Alice, “Where’s Lenny?”

 

“I don’t know,” She responded, “I haven’t seen him since he stormed off.”

 

An immediate sense of panic washed over Dom. Lenny and Lofty had been missing for around the same amount of time and neither of them have come back. As the puzzle pieces fell together, Dom’s fears seemed to be true - Lenny had done something to Lofty. Alice seemed to have the same idea, because she then said:

 

“Dom I don’t feel good about this. Lenny’s been on edge lately and I think seeing you two together made it worse. The lady at the desk said she sent Ben to the changing rooms - go look for him there.”

 

Dom didn’t even respond, he jumped up off the hospital bed and practically ran to the changing rooms, _Please be there Lofty_ he kept thinking to himself _Please be there_. He quickly pulled open the changing room door only to see no one was inside, but he quickly noticed the note on Lofty’s locker.

 

“I- I didn’t leave this note here. I didn’t write this.” Dom muttered to himself as he read it over and over. It only seemed to confirm his fears, but a quick sense of relief punched him as he realised the note told him where they’d be, “Lofty thank god you left the note here!” He cried out, he then sprinted to the storage room yelling “Get security to the storage room!” as he ran past Essie and Sacha. All those hours in the gym were paying off in ways he didn’t expect, but even if he ran, it’d take a while to get to the storage room: the elevator would be in constant use from transporting patients within the packed hospital, so he’d have to navigate the hallways and take the multiple stair cases down to the storage level.

 

      -----------------[10 MINUTES LATER, BACK IN THE STORAGE ROOM WITH LENNY AND  LOFTY]-----------------

 

“How’d you get in the changing room?” Asked Lofty quietly, trying his best to hide his fear.

 

“Some nurse didn’t shut it properly. Gave me an opportunity whilst you were still at the desk.”

 

Lenny had forced Lofty into makeshift cable tie handcuffs and the two of them were sat on the floor across from each other. Lofty had kept his talking minimal (in case it angered Lenny more), but Lofty could see that Lenny’s eyes were bloodshot and sore and to say his behaviour was erratic was an understatement, which only meant one thing.

 

“Lenny… Are you high? Are you back on drugs again-”

 

“Just shut up Ben!” Responded Lenny angrily, “So what if I am? It’s none of your damn business.”

 

“Lenny you’re not in your right state of mind. The drugs are making you act strange, this isn’t like you-”

 

“I said shut up!” Yelled Lenny, he lunged at Lofty and pressed the box cutter knife into Lofty’s shoulder. Lofty let out a yell of pain which was immediately stifled by Lenny’s hand. “I’m sick of you always getting the happy ending Ben,” he continued, “Always getting what you want even when you’ve hurt people: the people who cared about you the most! You leave them broken and hurt and confused.”

 

“Lenny-”

 

“Shut it!” Threatened Lenny, pushing the blade further into Lofty’s shoulder - causing him to let out another cry of pain. “You don’t deserve happiness Lofty.” Lenny continued, “Alice deserves it, and so do I, but you don’t.”

 

“I know Lenny.” Lofty managed to say through the agonising pain.

 

“What?” Asked Lenny, stunned by Lofty’s words.

 

“I said you’re right Lenny. I don’t deserve happiness.”

 

“You’re just saying that-”

 

“No I’m not. I’ve hurt people, I’m fully aware of that. I’m so aware of it that it nearly broke me. But Dom loved me regardless - even after I told him what I’ve done. I might not deserve him Lenny but I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to be with him. I love him.” Said Lofty adamantly. “No one has to know what happened here Lenny, I’ll say I fell on something sharp and no one will be any the wiser, they know I’m clumsy.” Lenny seemed to be considering what he was saying so Lofty continued, “I need medical attention now Lenny. Please, let me go.”

 

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the storage room door, as Dom’s voice could be heard yelling “Lofty!” over and over. Lenny’s mood instantly soured again and a look of fury spread across his face, he immediately forced Lofty off the floor and wrapped his arm around Lofty’s neck - making sure he wouldn’t be able to escape.

 

“Dom! Dom don’t come in! Please do not come through that door!” Lofty begged.

 

“But Lofty-”

 

“Stay out Dom!” Yelled Lofty.

 

“But what can I do then?”

 

“You can both shut the fuck up!” Cut in Lenny, growing more and more agitated. He then put pressure on the wound in Lofty’s shoulder, making Lofty scream in pain. Hearing Lofty’s agonised cry made Dom’s heart stop;

 

“Lofty!” He cried, “Lofty what’s wrong?”

 

“I’m hurt Dom, but it’ll all be okay, I’ll be fine! We’ll still be going out tonight to celebrate!” Responded Lofty, trying his best to keep himself and Dom calm.

 

“Celebrate?” Asked Dom, unsure what Lofty was talking about. What could they possibly celebrate after all this?

 

“Our one month anniversary! I had it all planned out: dinner at your favourite restaurant, a movie at my place and then I bought a jigsaw we could do together!”

 

“You… You remembered?” Dom was surprised, he thought Lofty had forgotten their anniversary, since he hadn’t brought it up at all that day.

 

“Of course I did how could I forget! I’ve been planning tonight for the past week. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to surprise you...”

 

“Will you two shut up about your date?” Lenny cut in, he squeezed his arm around Lofty’s throat a little more, making it difficult for Lofty to breathe properly.

 

“Please, please let him go Lenny.” Begged Dom through the door.

 

“Why are you with him? He told you everything he’s done. He hurt me and Alice. Yet you still stay with him?” As Lenny got angrier, his grip around Lofty’s neck got tighter.

 

“Because I know he’s a good person! And if I couldn’t see past his faults I’d be an extreme hypocrite.”

 

“Dom?” Lofty was curious, what could Dom have possibly done wrong? The struggle to breathe was starting to make Lofty dizzy, and he tried to keep conscious.

 

“When I first came to Holby I was a bigger prick than I am now. I’d fallen out with a doctor and to get revenge, I accused him of something he didn’t do so he would lose his license to practice. They eventually figured out I was lying and I was given a suspension. But that’s not the only thing I’ve done: I met a guy and we started dating but I was really terrible to him despite the fact he’d done nothing to me. Eventually, he wanted to leave, so I tried to blackmail him into staying by proposing to him. I love Lofty despite his past, and I hope he can love me back despite now knowing mine.”

 

Lenny seemed dumbstruck, he didn’t know what to say until someone else spoke for him:

 

“Lenny. Please stop this.”

 

“Alice? How are you down here?”

 

“They brought me down in a wheelchair.” She said from the other side of the door, “Lenny you're hurting more people than you are helping them. This hurts me too; you’ve hurt Lofty and I don’t think I can forgive you for that.”

 

“But... But I’m doing this for you-” Lenny objected.

 

“You’re doing it for yourself! If you want to make me happy then left Lofty go.”

 

There was silence within the storage room, and for a second, Dom feared the worst had happened. Eventually, Lenny unlocked and opened the door (still holding Lofty around the neck), Lofty was on the verge of passing out from struggling to breathe so when Lenny released him he immediately dropped to the floor and began gasping for air. Dom instantly went to help Lofty, slowly helping him to sit up and support himself (as well as taking off the makeshift handcuffs). Whilst Dom attended to Lofty, the hospital security (that had been quietly standing outside the door too) quickly handcuffed Lenny and took him away for questioning. Alice quickly followed them, but not without taking one last look at Lofty.

 

“I- I thought I’d lost you…” Said Dom, tears began to trickle down his face as relief washed over him. He then hugged Lofty (making sure he didn’t hurt Lofty’s shoulder in the process).

 

“Me? I’m not that easy to get rid of.” Responded Lofty, hugging Dom back with his good arm, “Not gonna lie though, I might pass out.” He joked, “How’s my shoulder looking?”

 

Dom detached himself from the hug and inspected the wound, which had stained Lofty’s blue uniform with crimson, Lofty tried to look like it didn’t hurt but Dom could still see he was grimacing with pain.

 

“How badly does it hurt?” Asked Dom.

 

“Like a nine out of ten. But you’re safe so I don’t mind.” Responded Lofty, smiling slightly despite the pain.

 

“We’re gonna need to take you onto Keller to be examined and have the wound cleaned up.” Responded Dom as he began to pick up Lofty.

 

“Woah, what are you doing? I’m not gonna die, I can walk.” Said Lofty.

 

“I couldn’t do anything for you back there, just let me do this?”

 

Lofty laughed a little before responding, “Don’t say you didn’t do anything because you did. You kept him distracted and you talked to him and that really helped me. If you agree that you saved me, then I’ll let you be my knight in shining armor!”

 

“I like the sound of that!” Said Dom, he picked Lofty up like a damsel in distress, much to Lofty’s embarrassment.

 

“I didn’t mean literally!” He exclaimed. “Let’s just walk!”

 

“Too late! I’m your knight in shining armor Lofty, and everyone can know!” Said Dom triumphantly.

 

Lofty looked into Dom’s eyes for a long while, smiling the whole time before eventually giving in to Dom’s words; “Yeah, they can.”

 

On the way to Keller (by having to go up the multiple flights of stairs) Lofty repeatedly asked “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?” to which Dom would always respond “I’m sure” and smile. When the pair finally made it to the ward they were met with confusion and worried faces:

 

“Lofty!” Exclaimed Essie as she and Sacha made their way over to them, “What happened?”

 

“I uh, had a run in with Lenny.”

 

“And by ‘run in’ he means he was held hostage for nearly an hour.” Stated Dom.

 

“Lenny?” Chimed in Sacha, “Lenny that you told me about Lenny?”

 

“The one and only.” Confirmed Lofty, “Hospital security are talking to him now.”

 

“We’re glad to know you’re safe, but, why is Dom holding you like a Damsel in distress?” Asked Essie.

 

“Dom insisted.” Responded Lofty casually, now quite enjoying the special treatment from Dom.

 

“Speaking of insisting: I must now insist on taking you to a hospital bed in order to clean your injury up and get it dressed.” Added Dom, to which Lofty complied. When they found an empty bed for Lofty to sit on, Dom immediately got to work on treating the wound, trying to be as gentle and painless as possible; the two of them sat in quiet as Dom cleaned and dressed the wound until Lofty spoke:

 

“What you said back there, was it true? About the suspension and all that?”

 

Dom nodded slowly, “Yeah it is.” he said, still ashamed of his own actions. “You… Don’t hate me do you?” He asked, looking at Lofty.

 

“What, no! Of course not!” Blurted out Lofty, “There’s no way I could hate you, I just didn’t expect it is all… Thank you though, it must’ve taken a lot to say that.”

 

“It’s fine, I would’ve had to tell you eventually.” Dom paused for a moment before continuing, “Lofty, were you not scared down there? You seem so calm right now.”

 

“I… I was terrified” Admitted Lofty, “But when I could hear you outside the door I felt safer, but scared for your safety at the same time. I didn’t want him to do anything to you.”

 

“I’m not weak you know Lofty.”

 

“I know that Dom, of course, you’re not weak. But I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

 

“You’re still scared of hurting me, aren’t you? You do know, it’s normal to lean on others for support.”

 

“I know it is, and I will eventually, I promise. But it’ll take time. Right now, making sure you’re happy is my priority.”

 

“Just make sure you’re thinking of yourself too. It’s alright to be selfish sometimes.”

 

There was a long pause of silence where neither of them spoke, it wasn’t uncomfortable but it wasn’t exactly an easy silence to sit through, but eventually Lofty spoke again:

 

“Can we still go on that date I had planned? By the time you clean and dress my shoulder, and Lenny’s been interviewed and I’ve made a statement and all that; the work day won’t have ended, so I can still take you to-”

 

“East tiger, let’s just get you sorted out first… Thank you for remembering by the way, it means a lot.”

 

“How could I forget?”

 

“Isaac wasn’t one for anniversaries. He either forgot, or he didn’t care. So the fact you remembered means a lot.”

 

“Can we please still go on the date? I’ll be good to go when you’re done fixing me up!” Pleaded Lofty, giving Dom the puppy dog treatment to which Dom instantly caved in.

 

“How could I say no to you?” Complied Dom, “Can’t help but love your insistence.” he joked.

 

“That’s good.” Said Lofty, bringing Dom closer to him, “You love and insistent man and I love a man in uniform.” He then grabbed Dom by the waist and pulled him in for a kiss, it was long and sweet and it didn’t seem like either of them were going to pull apart until Sacha interrupted:

 

“Guys, the police are nearly done talking with Lenny, they’re gonna take him in for further questioning. Lofty, they want to talk to you too.”

 

“Fine by me, as long as it doesn’t take too long.” Responded Lofty as cheerfully as he could.

 

“Nearly done here Sacha, I’m just gonna wrap up his shoulder, put it in a sling and give him some pain relief and then he can go speak to them.”

 

“Right, great! Whenever you’re ready Lofty just head down to my office, that’s where the police will be waiting to talk.”

 

“Thanks Sacha.” Replied Lofty.

 

When Sacha left, Lofty quickly turned to face Dom again, asking:

 

“So, where were we?” He asked, hopeful they could pick up where they’d left off before Sacha interrupted.

 

“I think I remember.” Smirked Dom.

 

            -----------------------[ONE HOUR LATER]-----------------------

 

Lofty left Sacha’s office, exasperated from the long and emotional interview; the painkillers had made him slightly drowsy and the fact he hadn’t had much sleep the night before didn’t help, but he didn’t want to give in to his tiredness. Dom noticed that Lofty was finally finished with talking to the police and made his way over.

 

“You feeling ok?” He asked, noticing Lofty’s tired eyes.

 

“Those pain killers made me feel a bit drowsy, but I’ll be okay.”

 

“You should go get some sleep, Lofty, you need to rest. You must be exhausted.”

 

“No.” Said Lofty adamantly, “If I fall asleep I might not wake up in time for our date tonight. I don’t want to miss it. I’m not too tired, really.” he insisted as he let out a long yawn.

 

“Lofty it’s just a date, it’s okay, really-”

 

“I was looking forward to it though. I’d planned everything out too. I really want to treat you tonight; it’s an important occasion.”

 

Dom let out a long sigh before responding: “I’ll make a deal with you. If you go to sleep I promise I’ll wake you up before it’s time to leave. That way, we can still go on the date you planned and you can get some rest. Sound good?”

 

“Deal.”

 

Dom then led Lofty to an empty bed, to which Lofty quickly made himself comfortable and within a matter of seconds fell asleep. Dom couldn’t help but notice how peaceful Lofty looked when he slept, and he almost considered letting him sleep the whole night if it weren’t for the fact he made a promise. He double checked that Lofty’s sling was intact and went about the rest of his working day (visiting Lofty every hour or so, to make sure he was ok). When the end of the day came around, Dom (as promised) made his way to Lofty’s bed to wake him up:

 

“Lofty… It’s time to wake up, the date you had planned?” He said as he gently shook Lofty’s torso, stirring him awake.

 

“Mhhmm.” Lofty murmured, still half asleep.

 

“My shift’s over, we can head off for the date you planned.”

 

Lofty still looked incredibly tired, so Dom made another suggestion:

 

“Or we can reschedule the date to another day? Did you make any reservations?”

 

“Just at the restaurant. The movie and jigsaw are at my place.” Lofty said tiredly.

 

“I’ll cancel the reservation, and rebook it for our next early finish and we can go on your date another time, okay?”

 

Lofty nodded his head in agreement, but he wasn’t happy about missing the date, “I’m sorry.” he apologised.

 

“Don’t be,” Comforted Dom, “You’ve gone through quite a lot today, what you need to do now is rest. I’m gonna go home, but you should get some sleep.” He then bent down and gave Lofty a kiss on the cheek, just before he left, Lofty spoke:

 

“Can I go home with you?”

 

This caught Dom off guard, so his immediate reaction was “What? Why?”

 

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter-”

 

“No, I mean, I’d love you to come home with me. But why?”

 

“You said it was alright to think of myself, right? I don’t want to be in the Hospital alone and I want to be with you… Can I?”

 

“Of course you can, I’ll grab your stuff and we’ll get a taxi. Your shoulder is fine so you’ll be able to discharge yourself early.” Responded Dom, grinning from ear to ear.

 

20 minutes later Lofty was dressed and ready to go, using Dom as a support to keep himself balanced till the taxi showed up. He had his head resting on Dom’s shoulder and was trying his best to stay awake; being drowsy and tired at the same time wasn’t easy. Eventually, the taxi arrived and the two of them climbed on, Dom gave his address to the driver and they soon were on their way to Dom’s apartment.

 

“My wallet is in my bag.” Said Lofty, still resting on Dom’s shoulder.

 

“What?”

 

“To pay for the taxi, my wallet’s in my bag.”

 

“Lofty I’m paying for the taxi, stop trying to be a gentleman despite being half asleep and injured. Also, please try not to fall asleep in the taxi, alright? I might not be able to wake you up.”

 

“Okay.” Responded Lofty, who looked like he was about to fall asleep anyway, “Thanks Dom, for being my knight in shining armour.”

 

“My pleasure.” Said Dom, then giving Lofty a kiss on the forehead. The two of them spent the rest of the journey in blissful quiet, both tired and drained from the day’s events, but happy knowing they were both safe in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked that! Next chapter will be a bit shorter because it's more of just a fluffy filler chapter.


	3. Whispers and Stares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom and Lofty's relationship is good and strong! But when old faces from Lofty's past show up, a spanner get's put in the relationship's works.
> 
> (This is not a dramatic chapter, it's meant to be fluffy more than anything!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to amygirl90 for the brilliant prompt! Loved writing this one, and thank you for allowing me to use it for Coffee and Confusion :)

  
  


It’d been awhile since Max and Robyn had gone for drinks after work. With work, Jez and Lofty leaving, and Robyn having a newborn to care for it was like they never had the time. But for once in a really long time, Robyn and Max weren’t on a late shift, and Robyn had managed to get her mum to watch the baby for a few hours. Max ran his fingers through his messy hair as he exhaled a sigh of relief:

 

“I’m so bloody tired. It’s been so busy lately, y’know?” 

 

“Definitely.” Responded Robyn, “I’ve got mum in babysitting Charlotte because I thought we’d be given extra hours again.”

 

“Wanna get a couple drinks then?” Proposed Max.

 

“And leave Charlotte at home when I could be with her? No thanks.” Responded Robyn adamantly.

 

“C’mon Robyn. It’s been forever since we’ve had drinks after work. A couple hours away from Charlotte ain’t gonna kill you. Please…” Begged Max, desperate for a drink and good company.

 

Robyn couldn’t help but be swayed by his words, “Oh alright then, but only one or two. Okay?”

 

“Deal!” Replied Max, excited at the outcome of his pleading, “Besides, it’s not like anything we’re not expecting will happen - it’s just a couple drinks!”

  
  


                            -----------[IN THE PUB WITH DOM AND LOFTY]-----------

 

Dom, Lofty, Essie and Sacha were sat in their usual cosy corner of the pub: Essie with her white wine, Dom with a red wine and Sacha and Lofty with beer. It was the usual set up they had after work: with Dom and Lofty sat next to each other (hand in hand, of course), and Sacha and Essie sat in their usual seats too. Lofty loved the consistency: it made him think things would always stay like that, especially now he had Dom beside him. They’d been dating for a good few months, and both were pretty comfortable with public affection, it was a new world and the idea of people being hostile towards them was next to none existent. Things couldn’t be better for the both of them, and they each hoped things would stay that way. 

 

“So, Dom and Lofty, how long’s it been since you started dating?” Asked Sacha, happy to see the pair of them together: Dom was almost like a son to him, so to see him with someone as caring and thoughtful as Lofty, put his mind and heart at ease.

 

“4 months next week, right Dom?” Said Lofty, confirming with Dom that he hadn’t infact made a mistake.

 

“Yes indeed!” Responded Dom gleefully. He had never been so happy just by being with someone; not even in the early stages of his relationship with Issac… But that man didn’t matter anymore, because all he need was Lofty, and he knew things were going to be fine. “And I can’t wait for 4 more months, and far into the future!”

 

“Neither can I.” Agreed Lofty, looking at Dom with that look of love he always had when he was with him. They both instinctively went in to kiss one another and neither were disappointed, it wasn’t a full on kiss: it was just a simple and sweet kiss that was filled with feelings. Just before they each pulled away, Lofty heard the familiar voice of Robyn:

 

“Lofty?” she asked, bewildered by what she and Max had walked in on.  _ Since when was Lofty into men?  _ She thought to herself. 

 

Lofty quickly pulled away from the kiss (still holding hands with Dom), and smiled when he saw the two familiar faces he once worked with, “Robyn, Max! I haven’t seen you guys in forever, do you normally come and drink here?”

 

“No not really, we normally do late shifts, but we got an early leave today, what about you? How long are you back for?” Responded Max, shocked too - he didn’t remember Lofty saying he was gay.

 

“Me and everyone else are here pretty regular customers here when we get the chance. I’m back for good, working up on Keller!” Said Lofty enthusiastically. He then picked himself up out of his chair and greeted them each with a huge hug.

 

“Who’s the dish behind you then?” Asked Robyn, referencing Dom.

 

Lofty looked at Dom as an invitation to join them in the conversation (to which Dom silently agreed), when he joined the circle of conversation Lofty casually held Dom’s hand before speaking:

 

“This, guys, is Dom. He’s a doctor on Keller, we’re dating.” Stated Lofty, a huge boyish grin spread across his face.

 

“How long have you been together? Couple weeks or something?” Asked Max.

 

“Almost four months.” Corrected Lofty.

 

“Four months!” Repeated Max, “I didn’t think you’d been back for so long. Why didn’t you say?”

 

“I’m really sorry about that, really, it’s just that things… have been a bit hectic.” Apologised Lofty.

 

“Guessing this is a serious relationship then?” Asked Robyn.

 

“We’d like to think so!” Said Dom, smiling happily.

 

“How’d you two meet then?” Questioned Max, he’d always just assumed Lofty was straight. He didn’t have a problem with it, if he was gay - but after years of thinking one way, realising it’s the exact opposite, had caught him off guard.

 

“We met on Keller, but it’s a really long story.” Stated Lofty, to which Dom nodded in agreement.

 

“Well maybe it’s a long story you can save for a rainy day?” Suggested Robyn, “You should still have my number, text me when you’re next free and we can all meet up and catch up with each other! You forgot to actually text me last time we talked, Dom is welcome to join us if he wants to.”

 

“You want to do that Dom?” Asked Lofty.

 

“Sounds like fun!” Agreed Dom, “He might forget again, so I’ll make sure he does text you.” he said to Robyn. 

 

“You can join me, Dom and the others at our table if you want?” Offered Lofty.

 

“Oh no, it’s alright Lofty, we were just gonna go sit by the window, it’s been great seeing you though!” Responded Max.

 

“Oh, okay, yeah it’s been great seeing you too Max, you as well Robyn - I’ve missed the pair of you! And I’ll have to come see baby Charlotte soon, is that alright?”

 

“That’s great, text me and we’ll figure out when’s best for both of us for you to come over and see her. She’ll be calling you Uncle Lofty in no time!”

 

“I’ll still be her favourite non-biological Uncle though, won’t I?” Asked Max.

 

“You’re her only non-biological Uncle right now Max, when Lofty meets her you might lose your self-proclaimed title.”

 

“I’m not gonna lose to you Lofty!” Max said jokingly.

 

“We’ll see about that!” Responded Lofty.

 

“We’ll see you later Lofty.” Said Robyn, smiling as she dragged Max off to the empty seats by the window.

 

Lofty was beaming as he watched the pair of them walked away, Dom noticed this and quickly said:

 

“If you want to go sit with them it’s completely fine, you should catch up with them, they’re your friends!”

 

“It’s alright Dom, I’ve been away too long for me to just be able to do that. Maybe if we start meeting up more, and once we’ve caught up on each other's lives, I’ll have drinks with them like I use to. C’mon, let’s get back to our table!”

 

“Alright then.” Said Dom, smiling. He was happy Lofty wasn’t completely denying himself the chance to reconnect with old friends - it meant he was accepting a part of his past in a way. The pair of them went back to the table they were sharing with Sacha and Essie and continued with their drinks and conversations. Meanwhile, Robyn and Max were deep in conversation already:

 

“Did he ever tell you he was into men?” Asked Max.

 

“Never, he never really talked about himself to be honest. Everyone just saw him as  _ Lofty the Nurse with curly hair and a habit of dropping things _ , none of us thought about who he really was, I guess. Maybe he wanted to keep it that way.”

 

“I just didn’t expect him to be gay-”

 

“You shouldn’t presume that Max, of course there’s no problem if he is, but he could be Bi for all we know. He does seem really happy.”

 

“You’re right about that,” Agreed Max, “I don’t think I’d ever seen him smile as genuinely as he did back there! That Dom guy must make him really happy.”

 

“They look like complete polar opposites - but they still seem to suit each other.” 

 

“That’s what I was thinking! It’s great that he’s back, I missed him y’know…” Admitted Max.

 

“Me too, “Agreed Robyn, “I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t seen him in so long but he seemed different, in a good way, like there was less on his mind that was burdening him. He looked comfortable.”

 

“What did you mean when you said to him ‘the last time we talked.’ ?” Asked Max.

 

“Oh, I’d seen him before not long after he came back and we got talking. I know what you’re gonna say, “Robyn why didn’t you tell me!”, but things were hectic on our own ward at the time and I just didn’t think to tell you. Sorry.”

 

“Pft, I wasn’t gonna say that.” Stated Max, even though he knew that that was exactly what he was about to say. Maybe living with him for so long meant Robyn could predict his behaviour?

 

“Well, I’m not fussed as long as he’s happy!” Exclaimed Robyn.

 

“Me too!” Agreed Max.

 

“Right then, you can buy the first round in. I’ll buy the other.”

 

“Alright, fine.” Responded Max, he always had to buy the first round in.

 

Whilst Max was gone, Robyn pulled out her phone and began texting other people who worked on the ED; maybe herself and Max had missed it, so she didn’t see any harm in asking others if they knew Lofty liked men or not. Meanwhile, back at the Keller table, Sacha and Essie wanted to hear all about the encounter with the two strangers:

 

“So who were they? Old friends?” Asked Essie as she sipped on her white wine.

 

“Yeah they were, they’re called Max and Robyn. I used to be really close with them when I worked on the E.D, it’s been ages since I’ve seen them!” Said Lofty, still grinning.

 

“Do they know you’re into men?” Questioned Dom, he sensed the pair of them were shocked seeing himself and Lofty together.

 

“They do now!” Laughed Lofty, “When I worked on E.D, I never talked about my private life, it just wasn’t something I felt the want or need to bring up. When I eventually left, after the accident with the agency nurse, I was only just beginning to reconsider everything about myself - including my sexuality. I didn’t want to tell them, it just wasn’t the right time.”

 

“Fair enough.” Stated Sacha, and he meant it. Lofty was pretty private even when he came back to work on Keller. Dom was the one who really made Lofty open about things. As he thought to himself, he was quick to realise the pair of them brought out the best in each other, and he smiled to himself.

 

“What you smiling about there Sacha?” Smirked Dom.

 

“Ahh, I just realised something is all, doesn’t matter.” Replied Sacha as he picked up his pint, he then took a long swig from it and said nothing more about the matter, he didn’t want to bring it up incase Dom and Lofty were embarrassed by it.

 

“What time is it now?” Asked Lofty as he let out a long yawn.

 

“It’s almost eleven.” Answered Essie, who then quickly finished her glass of wine. 

 

“I’m not in till later than usual tomorrow morning.” Stated Dom, excited at the idea of having a lie-in in bed.

 

“Me too!” Said Lofty.

 

“You two are lucky,” Said Sacha, “Me and Essie are coming in tomorrow the normal time.” 

 

“I’m jealous.” Said Essie as she grabbed the wine bottle and poured herself another glass.

 

Dom and Lofty looked at each other in silent agreement, Lofty then turned to Essie and Sacha and spoke again: “Me and Dom are gonna head back now, it’s pretty late. Is that okay?”

 

“Don’t be daft, of course it’s okay!” Answered Sacha and Essie in unison. They both burst out laughing after realising they’d said the exact same thing.

 

“Me and Essie are gonna stay a little longer, so we’ll see you two love-birds tomorrow.” Said Sacha through his chuckles.

 

Lofty blushed slightly at Sacha saying “love-birds” but he really didn’t mind, in fact, he loved it because he knew how protective Sacha was of Dom; so knowing Sacha was okay with calling them love-birds, as well as them being together, put him at ease. 

 

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Said Dom as he took Lofty’s hand and held it, they smiled at each other lovingly again before walking out of the pub together (presumably to go get a cab). 

 

“They really suit each other.” Stated Essie, smiling as she watched Lofty and Dom walk off together.

 

“That’s very true, they do. I’m happy Dom found happiness in Lofty. Despite being complete opposites, they bring out the best in each other.” Agreed Sacha.

 

“Is that what you were smiling to yourself about before?” 

 

“Yeah, it was.” Admitted Sacha, “You agree with me though, right?”

 

“Of course. I haven’t seen Dom be in a bad mood for months, and Lofty is so much more open and confident now. I’m really happy for the pair of them.”

 

“Me too… With you and Raf, and Lofty and Dom, it looks like I need to hurry up and find someone for myself!” Joked Sacha.

 

“Haha, aw, you’ll find someone Sacha! Even if their dad is a Jewish Penis-Doctor, or if they’re similar to your mother, or if they’re someone your mum paired you with-”

 

“Please,” Laughed Sacha, “Don’t bring up bad memories!”

  
  


 

                                      -------------[THE NEXT MORNING-------------

  
  


Dom had stayed over at Lofty’s apartment the night before, and because they were both due in for work at the same time, they both thought it’d be a nice idea if they travelled to work together. Lofty had a spare bike that he lent Dom, but Dom’s long distance stamina was lacking compared to Lofty’s (who rode to work every day), so he was completely worn out by the time they’d arrived at the Hospital. 

 

“How do you do that every morning?” Exclaimed the exasperated Dom as they put their bikes away in the hospital’s bike shed. 

 

“You get used to it eventually. Don’t worry though, I was like you the first time I rode to work.” Replied Lofty as he double checked that the locks on the bikes were secure. Once he’d done this, he stood up (satisfied the bikes weren’t going anywhere) and the pair of them began to make their way over to the main entrance of the Hospital. Eventually, whilst they were walking, Lofty noticed people (specifically other nurses and doctors) were staring at the pair of them. Lofty then began to recognise their faces - they were all people he’d worked with on E.D, Dom noticed the looks from everyone not long after Lofty:

 

“Lofty… are they staring at us?” he asked quietly.

 

“I think they are, yeah.” Replied Lofty, just as confused as Dom was about the situation, “They’re all people I used to work with I think…” 

 

“From E.D? Why are they gawking at us though?”

 

“I don’t know. Let’s just… Go inside and head to Keller, I don’t like this.” 

 

“Same here.” 

 

“You want a coffee from Pulses?” Asked Lofty.

 

“Oh, yes! I’ve been itching for a coffee all morning, there wasn’t any at your place.”

 

“I’ll make sure to buy you some for next time you come over.” Promised Lofty as they both entered the hospital building. As they made their way over to the counter at Pulses to make their order, they could hear whispers and see gazes coming from people sat at tables (again, all people that Lofty previously knew from E.D), they tried to ignore it as Dom gave his order but eventually Lofty lost his patience: he quickly spun around to address everyone that was staring at them.

 

“Do you mind?” He asked rhetorically. The people who were staring quickly averted their gaze from the pair and tried to pretend like they hadn’t been staring in the first place, Lofty turned back around to the counter and got his card out to pay for Dom’s drink (visibly annoyed), Dom was slightly shocked: he’d never seen Lofty get like that, apart from the time he overheard him and Essie gossip about him leaving his Ex at the altar, Lofty had never shown obvious annoyance or disdain towards others. Lofty looked at Dom and smiled, his own quiet way of telling him that he was okay, and Dom was immediately put at ease. As soon as Dom got his coffee, the two of them made their way to the Keller ward hand in hand, they made small talk and discussed plans for future dates as they walked into the elevator that would take them to the ward. There was someone already in the elevator when the stepped on, the pair of them continued to talk about what they could do for their next date (Dom was hoping for a night in watching Disney films and doing a 1000 piece jigsaw together), when Lofty suddenly caught sight of the other person’s phone screen. They were texting Robyn. Obviously Lofty didn’t want to be rude and invade the stranger’s privacy, but the message they were mid-way through typing had caught his attention completely:

 

“OMG!!! U were right Robyn he totally is x they’re plannin they’re next date as we-”

 

The stranger who was texting quickly realised that Lofty was looking at their phone and turned the screen away from him so he couldn’t see the rest of the message - but he’d already seen enough. Robyn had told everyone on the ED about his relationship with Dom, and for the first time in a long time, he was well and truly pissed. Dom could see Lofty was mad about something (he wasn’t sure what since he hadn’t seen the stranger’s text), and it freaked him out since he’d never seen him genuinely angry to that degree:

 

“Lofty… is everything okay?” He asked as he grabbed Lofty by the shoulder to comfort him.

 

“I, I don’t know Dom.” Responded Lofty, and he meant it, he understood that he hadn’t seen her in a long time but he thought he could trust Robyn - it wasn’t her place to tell everyone information about his private life.

 

“You don’t have to tell me, but if you want to, just let me know.” Offered Dom, he knew Lofty was upset but he didn’t want to be invasive or make him say anything he wasn’t ready to tell. If Lofty wanted to tell him he would tell him in his own time, for now all Dom wanted to do was make sure Lofty was going to be okay.

 

“We can’t talk about it here. When we get to the changing rooms I promise I’ll tell you.” 

 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

 

“I want to tell you.” 

 

“Okay then.” Replied Dom, giving a comforting smile as he did. Lofty appreciated this and brought Dom in closer to him for a side hug and a kiss on the forehead. He knew Dom loved those types of kisses, and he loved giving them. Eventually, the elevator doors opened onto the Keller ward, Dom and Lofty stepped off the elevator and they each greeted Essie and Sacha (both of which were slightly hungover from staying at the pub after Dom and Lofty had left) and made their way to the changing rooms. Whilst getting changed into their scrubs, Lofty began to speak:

 

“Robyn told everyone on E.D about us.”

 

“What?” Asked Dom, he wasn’t sure if he’d heard Lofty correctly.

 

“When we were in the elevator there was that other person there, on their phone. I saw they were texting Robyn and they were talking about us. Saying how about Robyn was right about something.”   
  


“You don’t know if that means Robyn told everyone though…” Suggested Dom.

 

“No, that person in the elevator also brought up the fact they’d heard us planning our next date. The text said something like: “Robyn you were right, they’re planning their next date as we speak.” She had to have told people Dom, and with all the staring we’ve had from people who work on E.D this morning, that only confirms it.”

 

“Oh…” Responded Dom, “She must’ve, you’re right.” He looked at Lofty who was visibly hurt by Robyn’s actions, “It’s not a bad thing that people know about us, right?”

 

“What, no, of course not! I’m more than happy with people knowing about us. But it’s just that it was my personal information. If people were going to find out we were together, I wanted to be the one to do it, or have us both tell them together.”

 

“Yeah I can see where you’re coming from.”

 

“And now everyone’s staring at us like they’re at the Zoo!” Exclaimed Lofty, obviously frustrated. “I’m fine with them giving me looks, they weren’t to know I like men before I left, but the fact they’re staring at you is what makes me mad.”

 

“It’s just one of those things, they’ll get over themselves eventually.” Lofty still looked pissed so Dom continued, “Look I’m sure those people meant nothing by it by staring at us. Like you said, they’re shocked to find out you’re Bi, they’ve only ever thought you were straight so to see you with me has surprised them. It’ll all be fine Lofty.”  As he said this he walked over to Lofty and hugged him, as he finished speaking he felt the tension in Lofty’s body loosen as he relaxed into the hug.

 

“How do you always know what to say?” Complimented Lofty as he hugged Dom back.

 

“It comes with the perks of being the queen of gossip.” Answered Dom, smirking as he went in to kiss Lofty, Lofty wrapped his arms around Dom’s waist and went to kiss him back. Just before they did, however, Sacha entered the changing room to talk to them:

 

“Ah, sorry,” he apologised as he realised what he’d walked in on, “Minor surgery in twenty minutes guys, make sure you get dressed as quickly as possible so you can scrub in.”

 

“Mr Hamilton’s multiple Lipoma removal?” Guessed Lofty, still having his arms wrapped around Dom’s waist.

 

“Yes, and we’ve just found another one near his- well, I’ll see you two in theatre.” Answered Sacha, he then shut the door behind him and made his way over to theatre to scrub in.

 

“He has a habit of doing that, doesn’t he?” Stated Dom after Sacha had shut the door behind himself.

 

“Habit of doing what?”

 

“Interrupting us just as we get to the best part.” Responded Dom, smirking.

 

“Ah don’t, you’ll make me blush!” Joked Lofty, already blushing slightly.

 

“That’s what I was hoping for silly.”

 

“I think the right word you’re looking for is handsome.” Corrected Lofty jokingly.

 

“That too.” Agreed Dom, completely serious. The pair of them looked at each other lovingly for a long long while, the world seemed to stop around them, nothing else seemed to matter and they both enjoyed the moment. Dom was suddenly drawn out of the trance by a sudden thought:

 

“We should probably start making our way over for surgery.”

 

“You’re right let’s go, besides, I wanna find out where this new-found lipoma is!” Said Lofty, laughing as they made their quick exit from the changing rooms and over to theatre.

 

“I think we both know where it is already.” Responded Dom.

 

“We do?” Asked Lofty. He genuinely had no inclination as to where it would be. Dom decided not to respond and to let Lofty find out for himself.

  
  
  


                                             --------[AFTER THE SURGERY]--------

 

“Well then…” Sighed Lofty as himself, Dom and Sacha washed up, “I definitely didn’t want to see that.”

 

“See what?” Asked Dom, goating Lofty on.

 

“You know what! I’m talking about his-”

 

“Alright guys!” Interrupted Sacha, “Well done you two, that surgery went off without a hitch. I’ll see you two back on the ward soon.” he continued as he finished washing up. He dried his hands and made his way out of the theatre.

 

“Right, see you later Sacha!” Responded Dom cheerfully - his mood always brightened after successful surgery. As the door shut behind Sacha as he left, Lofty spoke:

 

“Dom, I won’t be back on ward straight away. I need to go somewhere.”

 

“Where you off to?” Asked Dom.

 

“The E.D. I did listen to you back there, you’re right, people are bound to stop caring and the looks and whispers will stop. But I need to talk to Robyn, I want to figure out why she told people, she’s my friend Dom. But I just can’t figure out why she did it… I hope you understand.”

 

“Of course I do Lofty, do you want me to come with you?” Replied Dom.

 

“I… I think I want to settle this on my own. If we’re both there it might feel like we’re ganging up on her maybe? I dunno, I just think it’s best if I confront her one to one.”

 

“Okay, whatever you think is best. I’ll see you back on the ward later, okay?”

 

“Yeah, you will. It shouldn’t take too long really. I’ll see you later Dom.” Responded Lofty, he gave Dom a kiss on the cheek before leaving the theatre to make his way over to E.D.

  
  
  


                              --------[AT E.D, JUST BEFORE LOFTY ARRIVES]--------

 

Robyn’s day at work was the same as any other: more patients, more pointless cases, more bookings for surgeries. She knew word about Lofty and Dom had spread around because of her (but she didn’t know to what extent), she didn’t think the gossip would spread as far as Lofty’s ward so she didn’t worry too much. Nothing had happened that was out of the ordinary and she thought the rest of her day would continue as such, until Max got her attention:

 

“Robyn!” He called over from the main desk in ED.

 

“Erm, Max, I’m a bit busy right now.” She gestured to the patient in front of her.

 

“No, it’s really important. Lofty’s here.” He responded. Just as he said those words, Lofty appeared from behind him, but he didn’t exactly look impressed. However his face immediately changed into  a massive smile when he saw a familiar old face make his way over to greet him.

 

“Lofty!” Charlie exclaimed as he embraced Lofty in a huge hug, “I didn’t think you were coming back! Where’ve you been, we haven’t heard from you since you left.”

 

“I was in Australia like I planned, but I decided to come home, I’m working up on Keller now!” Lofty responded gleefully as he hugged Charlie back. “How’ve you been?” 

 

“Things have been a bit hectic since you left, it’s been a challenge but we’re pulling through.” Responded Charlie, “How your clumsiness?” he joked.

 

“Ah well I’m still as clumsy as I used to be!” Responded Lofty, grinning like a cheshire cat, “I’m glad to hear you guys are going good.”

 

“As good as it can go with recent circumstances.” Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb had went off inside Charlie’s head as he suddenly said, “Lofty, I think there’s someone here you’d like to meet!” he said as he dragged Lofty over to a corner of the ward. As they grew closer and closer to their destination, Lofty could hear the voice of someone saying:

 

“No, David- David listen to me, don’t hang up, I told you to buy pasta. No, no, no don’t give me that excuse, you got to pop my knee back into place I should get to choose what we have for dinner!” Dylan briefly looked up from his phone call (since he felt someone was watching him) only to see his favourite curly haired nurse stood in front of him.

 

“Lofty?” He stated, bewildered by seeing him again.

 

“Dylan!” Exclaimed Lofty happily, immediately hugging Dylan. Dylan was caught off guard by the hug; he didn’t hug back, but he didn’t push away either.

 

“What are you doing on the E.D?” Asked Dylan.

 

“I came to talk to Robyn, but I’ve been wanting to see everyone again!” Responded Lofty, “It’s been awhile, how’ve you been doing?”

 

“I’m still working here. I live on a boat. Patients still don’t like me very much. David doesn’t listen to instructions-”

 

“You got a friend here on the E.D?” Asked Lofty.

 

“Yes I have a friend.” Replied Dylan, “Do you have friends on Keller?”

 

“Yeah I got a nice group I talk to! And I’m in this amazing relationship, I dunno if you already know that though.” Lofty quickly looked at Robyn who, realising why he looked at her, looked away in guilt. 

 

“No I don’t.” Said Dylan, who hadn’t noticed the look Lofty had given Robyn, “What’s her name?”

 

“Dom.” 

 

“Oh, well that’s a pretty masculine name for a girl - was she loved by her parents as a child?” 

 

“It’s a masculine name because Dom is a guy.” Replied Lofty, laughing at Dylan’s incredible response.

 

“Oh.” Said Dylan, “Since when were you into men?”

 

“It’s long story for just a quick visit.” Said Lofty.

 

“Well, when we’re all free, how about we all go down the pub and you can tell us this long story. Maybe even bring this Dom guy, he’s got to be pretty important to you.” Suggested Charlie (who was already aware of Lofty’s relationship, due to the gossip that had gone around). 

 

“Yeah he really is.” Responded Lofty to Charlie, he then turned to Dylan and spoke again, “Dylan will you tag along?” He asked, his eyes full of hope.

 

“If, because of social conventions I must, then fine I will.” Agreed Dylan.

 

“Great! Lofty if you keep in contact with Robyn about the next time we’re all free we can sort something out.” Said Charlie.

 

“Sounds amazing.” Said Lofty, smiling from ear to ear, “Which reminds me, Robyn, I need to speak to you.” he said, turning to Robyn. After the way he looked at her, she had a rough idea of what he was going to say. They walked off together to a staff changing room to talk in private, but before Lofty could even start she spoke in a whirlwind of words:

 

“I’m so sorry Lofty. I didn’t think it would get out of hand, it was harmless when I brought it up to others and I just wanted to see if anyone else already knew you were into guys and I-”

 

“Robyn. I’m not mad.” Stated Lofty, cutting Robyn’s rant short, “I just wanted to know why you did it, but you’ve just told me that. I just want to say that it’s my place to talk about my private information, not yours, if I wanted to tell people I would’ve. But I’d’ve done it on my own terms and in my own time.”

 

“Lofty I’m so sorry, will you forgive me? I really never meant to hurt you.”   
  


“I know you didn’t, you’re not like that. Just… Be careful of what you let slip to others next time, okay?”

 

“I promise. Still friends?” She asked, hopeful.

 

“Of course!” Agreed Lofty. Robyn immediately hugged Lofty in relief and Lofty hugged back, it was a long and good hug, “Will you be there when we all go to the pub together? Of course, if Max wants to come, that’d be great!”

 

“Of course he will, he’s always up for a drink. I’ll message you everyone’s next early shift and you can check out if it works with your times, that sound good?” 

 

“Sounds great!” Agreed Lofty, he quickly saw what time it was on the clock on the wall opposite him, “Ahh, I should probably head back to Keller, I told Dom I wouldn’t take long.”   
  


“Alright Lofty, make sure you visit us again sometime when you can?”

 

“You can count on it, if I don’t forget first!” Joked Lofty, he opened the door and made his way out, he couldn’t risk being spotted by anymore old faces incase he ended up really late back for work (Dom was having to cover for him and why he disappeared after surgery). He slipped out of the E.D without anyone noticing and quickly made his way back to Keller, when he got there he immediately went to go find Dom and when he did, Dom immediately asked him a flurry of questions:

 

“How’d it go? Did she apologise? Are you two still friends? Did she know-”   
  


“It’s all sorted, we had a good conversation about it, I even got to see a couple more faces from E.D that I haven’t seen in awhile!”

 

“Was it a nice visit?” Asked Dom, after what happened with the agency nurse all those years ago, he was worried that seeing the E.D would get a bit too much for Lofty. So he was very relieved to see Lofty with a boyish grin spread across his face.

 

“It was great, they all want to get to meet you! Of course I’ll explain it to them if you don’t want to meet them, but we’re trying to organise a thing where we all go to the pub and catch up over a few drinks, they said it’d be nice if you came.”

 

“I’d love to come along, whenever the date for is settled, you can count me in.” Replied Dom, smiling at the even bigger smile on Lofty’s face after hearing those words.

 

“You’re the best.” Lofty stated, giving Dom a big appreciative hug. “Want to come back to my place after work? Movie, take out food for dinner, jigsaws?”

 

“That sounds great, definitely! But I don’t know if I can go another morning without-”

 

“I was gonna pick up some coffee on the way home.” 

 

For Dom, the promise of bitter caffeine only sweetened the deal, he let out a small squeal of excitement before he spoke again: “You’re the best!”

 

“I don’t drink coffee though, so if I’m gonna buy it you’re gonna have to come over to my place more to drink it all, deal?”

 

“Yes, yes and more yes!” Dom dig a little jig on the spot to show his happiness. Lofty watched him, laughing the whole while, till he spoke again.

 

“I don’t know how I managed to get a guy like you.”

 

“A guy like what?” Asked Dom as he stepped closer towards Lofty.

 

“Kind, caring, understanding, handsome, patient when I make mistakes that could have been prevented, the list goes on.”

 

“I have a list for you too, you know.” Dom stated.

 

“Clumsy, loud, hair too curly, drops things, can’t do many things right.” Lofty listed off examples of what he pressumed would be on the list.

 

“Try attractive as all hell, adorably clumsy, decent, generous, patient with me when I’m in a bad mood, always buys me coffee, plans the most amazing dates. Need I say more?” 

 

Dom noticed how much the curly haired nurse was blushing and silently added “looks cute when he blushes” to the long list in his head. Dom gave Lofty a kiss on the cheek before walking off to continue his shift, he felt at ease knowing Lofty was okay and that their relationship was going to be okay too. Obviously they still got stares from other workers, but those faded away as the week progressed, Lofty was back to himself in no time and he was rebuilding the relationships he’d left behind on E.D, plus Dom had his Registrar duties that kept him happily busy. Things were really looking up for the two of them, but they were both happiest together, and they intended to keep it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any mistakes in the writing please let me know, any criticisms or comments are welcome! :)


	4. My Missing Piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Dom and Lofty's 6 month Anniversary, what will the day bring, and what will they have in store for eachother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This is like a tooth rot amount of fluff. Plus it's 18 pages so I'm sorry if it's too long!
> 
> Let me know if I've made and mistkaes or errors so I can correct them, many thanks! <3

It was their 6 month anniversary, and Lofty couldn’t be more nervous. He’d been preparing for their date for weeks in advance, booking every venue he needed to book just so the date would be perfect, and of course there was one other thing…

 

It was the early hours on a Thursday morning, Dom had stayed over at Lofty’s apartment the night before and they were snuggled into each other as the early hours of the new day ticked away. They were both awake, but the silence felt so natural and comfortable, no words were needed, just the simple intimacy of each other's embrace was enough. Dom was lying there in complete bliss; he also knew it was their 6 month anniversary, Lofty had told him they’d be going out that night to celebrate but he didn’t indulge on what they’d be getting up to, so Dom was excited. They’d both go to work, finish their shift and each go home to their own apartments to get ready, Lofty would pick him up at 8:30 that evening; Dom couldn’t wait to go to work and finish his work hours as quickly as possible (he wanted to look perfect for their date), Lofty on the other hand could feel butterflies flapping around his stomach already, a flurry of worried thoughts flashed through his mind in rapid succession:

 

_What if he doesn’t like it? What if it’s too soon? What if something goes wrong during the date?_

 

He decided to distract himself from those thoughts by going to make breakfast for the two of them; he kept in mind that Dom was a health and fitness fanatic so remembered to add fruit and vegetables into it. He carefully got out of bed (as to not disturb the half asleep Dominic), gave Dom a quick good morning kiss on the cheek and made his way to the kitchen to make a start. First thing to make was Dom’s cup of coffee, and Lofty had the cup of coffee requirement down to almost military-style perfection:

 

One normal sized mug (not overly large but not too small either), two teaspoons of Nescafè ground coffee beans, fill the cup a little under ¾ full with hot water (not boiling though) and then add two capfulls of milk. Dom didn’t like sugar in his tea so Lofty remembered to add just one sweetener to it.

 

Next up was to make a fruit salad, made with only all of Dom’s favourite fruits: melon, banana, strawberry, grapes, apple slices and a few blueberries. An omelette was next to be made, he made it with 1 egg and full of fresh vegetables (Dom’s favourite kind of omelette). He made sure to keep the portions small so Dom would to be able to eat a fair amount of all the food without feeling over-full. Now that he’d done all that there was just one thing left to do: make his own breakfast. He grabbed the milk, and bowl and spoon, and some Coco Pops and ate his breakfast in the kitchen (he was going to bring Dom’s breakfast in to him on a tray). He didn’t mind having such a simple breakfast, in fact he enjoyed it more than eating a full on breakfast (unlike Dom), plus he liked Coco Pops. As soon ad he finished his own, he put all of Dom’s food on a tray to bring it to Dom, much to the registrar's glee:

 

“Did you make this?” Asked the half asleep Dominic, Lofty put the tray on his lap and he could smell all the amazing food, “It smells great! Thanks Lofty. What about you though?”

 

“I already ate, don’t worry!” Lofty replied with a smile. He then went over to Dom and gave him a long kiss, as they pulled apart he spoke, “Happy anniversary Dom.”

Dom blushed slightly at hearing those words, he smiled a big smile and kissed Lofty back, “Happy anniversary to you too.” The two of them stayed like that: Dom sat comfortably in bed with the tray of food, and lofty sat on the edge of the bed next to him. It was a picturesque scene, and neither of them wanted it to end, until the sound of Lofty’s work alarm snapped them out of it.

 

“Take your time eating that, you’re clothes are already washed and dried, they’re on the radiator so they’ll be warm when you put them on. I’m afraid you’ll have to ride to work with me, unless…”

 

“Unless what?” Repeated Dom, curious as to what his curly haired partner had in store.

 

“You’ll find out eventually…” Answered Lofty as he left the room, he turned around and flashed his mischievous boyish smile before he shut the door behind him. Whilst Dom tucked into his glorious breakfast, Lofty began tidying up the mess he’d made in the kitchen before going to the bathroom to get a shower, he always sang in the shower when getting ready for work, and he normally tried to hide that fact from Dom; but that morning he was so happy he forgot his rule. He began to sing “Any Dream will Do” from one of his favorite musicals, but what started out as a quiet song to himself turned into a full on belt. As Dom finished off his omelette he heard a loud:

 

“A crash of Drums! A Flash of light!” Coming from the bathroom, as he tried to figure out what musical it was from the song continued.

 

“My golden coat flew out of sight! Colours faded into to darkness”

 

He then immediately realised what it was from and joined in (much to Lofty’s surprise) on the line “I was left alone!” For a long while things went silent in the bathroom, Lofty realised he’s forgotten his rule and had grown too embarrassed to sing anymore. To rectify this, Dom jumped out of bed, put on his vest and shorts and made his way over to the bathroom door where he began to sing again:

 

“May I return, to the beginning?” He waited by the door for a response, and eventually received one.

 

“The light is dimming, and the dream is too.” Knowing Lofty was joining in, Dom continued:

 

“The world and I, we are still waiting.”

 

“Still hesitating.” Sang Lofty in response.

 

“Any dream will do!” Cried Dom, as he finished the verse he burst through the bathroom door, much to Lofty’s surprise, he tried his best not to laugh so much at Lofty’s reaction (which included him jumping what looked like 2 feet off the ground, and screaming).

 

“Jesus Dom!” Exclaimed Lofty, “You scared the life out of me.” he tried to get the nearest towel to him to cover himself up, but ended up grabbing a small hand towel by mistake. “Please do not tell anyone at work!” He begged as he joined in with Dom’s intense laughter, he’d realised the madness of the situation and easily found the hilarity in it.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Said Dom, attempting to apologise as he wiped tears of laughter away, “I didn’t expect you to freak out like that! I also didn’t expect you to be able to sing so well either.”

 

“Did you not hear me at Mo Effanga’s leaving party? What did you think I’d sound like when I sing?”

 

“No not really, I was probably too tipsy to notice. And I dunno, I kinda pressumed you’d be tone deaf, it goes hand in hand with your clumsiness in a way.”

 

“Yeah but you like my clumsiness.”

 

“The last time someone brought it up I called you a blithering idiot Lofty.”

 

“Yeah Dom, but with some compliments you just have to read between the lines! Besides, it wasn’t enough to put you off dating me for 6 months.”

 

“It most certainly was not!” Agreed Dom, “Alright, I’ll leave, so you can have your privacy and all that jazz, I’ll be in the living room so when you’re finished I can get a shower too.”

 

“Alright. Oh, Dom!”

 

“Yeah Lofty?”

 

“Can… Can you please get me a bigger towel now?”

 

                      

                       -----------[JUST BEFORE THEY LEAVE FOR WORK]-----------

 

Lofty and Dom were getting changed in the bedroom: Lofty had went with a plaid, casual button shirt with jeans and his black converse, Dom decided to wear a pale pink t-shirt and and black jeans with trainers, he stole one of Lofty’s hoodies to keep warm on the way to the hospital.

 

“Remember what I said about riding to work this morning?” Said Lofty as the pair of them finished getting changed.

 

“Yeah, what was that about?” Responded Dom and he zipped up the hoodie.

 

“Come with me, I’ll show you!”

 

Lofty took Dom by the hand and led him to the pantry, it was meant to be a pantry but Lofty converted it into a bike shed, and showed him the surprise: Lofty’s bike was there with an extension on the back of it where people could sit comfortably sit and not cycle at all.

 

Lofty let out a small “Ta da!” as he presented the bike to Dom, “Now you can sit back and enjoy the journey!”

 

“Lofty that’s fantastic! What about you though, will you be okay having to cycle for two people?”

 

“If I could handle not telling you how I felt for months on end, I’m pretty sure I can handle one extra person on my bike.”

 

“Months on end?” Asked Dom, “What do you mean by that?”

 

Lofty blushed and tried to cover his word up, “Didn’t mean to say that, it’s not too important really-”

 

“Lofty, how long did you like me before you told me?”

 

Lofty paused, he didn’t want to creep Dom out with his answer, he eventually spoke: “Probably before you first tried to kiss me.”

 

“ _Before_ I tried to kiss you?”

 

“Well I didn’t realise how I felt until after that kiss. When I thought about it, it made sense - I always subconsciously wanted to make sure you were smiling and happy, when I thought about things romantically, it was obvious I’d been blind to my emotions for a long while. Let’s just, um, leave for work now.”

 

Lofty was blushing profusely at this point and it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, Dom (not wanting to push Lofty too far) didn’t ask any more question, he tried to hide his overly happy face and eyes as he looked at Lofty and nodded his head in agreement. They walked down all the flights of steps from Lofty’s flat to the main entrance of the building, Lofty jumped on the bike first and Dom followed suit and sat on the extra seat put there just for him. He felt his heart swell at Lofty’s thoughtfulness: he’d made him  an amazing breakfast, then sang with him and now this, Dom felt truly cared for and loved and he adored it (though not as much as he adored Lofty). The journey they took was made even better by the stunning weather that shone through that morning, cycling through the park near the flats to get to the hospital, it reminded Dom of an old victorian water colour painting: the blue sky, the fresh green grass in contrast to the dark green leaves of the trees that filled the public area, it was just a park but it looked so breathtaking.

 

“Why didn’t I notice all this last time I rode to work with you?” Dom said to himself.

 

“It’s the reason I ride my bike to work everyday.” Stated Lofty as he took in the scenery around them too.

 

“What?”

 

“The park. It never fails to look lovely no matter the weather, even in the winter when it's icy; the bear branches and the pale leaves and grass, it’s still beautiful. Today it looks especially good for some reason - though maybe it looks nicer because you’re here with me?”

 

Now it was Dom’s turn to blush, “I doubt my presence could change the petals on a daisy let alone a whole park.”

 

“It changed me.” Replied Lofty, “Which is pretty cool.” he suddenly became aware of what he’d just said and felt embarrassed by his own words “Ah, I’ll stop with the emotional stuff, you probably think I’m a sap now, I’ll make sure we’re at work on time.”

 

Dom nodded in silent agreement, and then immediately felt stupid since he realised Lofty couldn't see his response (since he was busy riding the bike). As they progressed through their journey, the morning’s sun began to make an effect on Dom.

 

“I shouldn’t have out this hoodie on.” he said as felt the sun on his face. The weather report that morning had said cold temperatures, which was why he wore a hoodie in the first place.

 

“If you want I can stop so you can take it off?” Lofty suggested.

 

“No, no it’s fine, really, it’s not too far away from the hospital!” Said Dom, roughly remembering the journey’s route from the last time they rode to work. The pair then spent a long while in happy quiet, each of them fully enjoying the gorgeous weather and view of the park, when they left the park they were around 15 minutes away from the hospital. Eventually, Lofty spoke:

 

“By the way, you don’t have to dress up y’know, for the date tonight.”

 

“I know that, but we’ve been together for 6 whole months, and I want to look nice to celebrate.” Replied Dom

 

“Alright, fancy casual, no suits or designer labels, sound good?” Proposed Lofty.

 

“Perfect! Though finding non designer labels in my wardrobe might be a challenge.” Remarked Dom jokingly.

 

          

                                  

 

                                                -------[AT THE HOSPITAL]--------

 

As per usual routine, Dom and Lofty immediately made their way over to Pulses for Dom’s coffee. Dom preferred to pay but Lofty always insisted - and how could he possibly say no to that face? After Pulses they walked up the stairs to the Keller ward, where Sacha was eagerly awaiting their arrival:

 

“Ah guys, I was wondering when you’d show up!”

 

“Where’s Essie?” Asked Dom.

 

“Traffics bad so she’s gonna be late. But it’s great you two are here, you’re bit early to be honest!”

 

“I told you I could ride the bike for the both of us!” Proclaimed Lofty loudly and happily, he had a look of triumph on his face.

 

“What?” Asked Sacha, confused slightly.

 

“I stayed at Lofty’s last night, he got a seat extension put on his bike so he rode me to work from his place.”

 

“Dom was worried it’d be too much for me,” He then turned to Dom and triumphantly said “I’m stronger than you think!”

 

“Alright, yes you’re strong Lofty. Tell you what, because I was wrong, you can make me doing anything today, anything at all.”

 

Lofty thought about it for a while before responding: “Okay, you can be Dom the Registrar Doctor all day.”

 

“I’m Dom the Registrar Doctor everyday.” Replied Dom, laughing slightly.

 

“Then you’ll do as great a job as ever!” Exclaimed Lofty, he gave Dom a quick kiss on the forehead before heading to the changing rooms.

 

“How’d I ever manage to get him?” Commented Dom as soon as Lofty was out of earshot.

 

“Because you deserve him?” Replied Sacha.

 

“Try because of sheer luck.” Dom replied adamantly.

 

“I highly doubt that. He really does seem to care about you Dom, a hell of a lot. It’s not pure luck that makes a person act and feel that way, it’s pure feeling.”

 

“Sacha I don’t need to hear sappy love stuff from you.”

 

“Guessin’ that’s Lofty’s job?”

 

“He’s the only person I want to hear sappy love stuff from.”

 

The rest of their working day went off without a hitch, which was a relief to Dom considering wha happened last time they were going to celebrate their anniversary. No major surgeries or dying patients, it was a calm and relaxed day on the ward for the first time in a long while, Essie (who eventually showed up) and Sacha were aware of Dom and Lofty’s anniversary and the two of them couldn’t have been happier for the pair - they were metaphorically watching them both graduate from unhealthy pairings to a blossoming relationship. They were always eager to hear back from Dom after they’d went on dates; a tone of excitement and happiness in his voice whenever he brought up Lofty or their relationship - like he’d found the one. Dom and Lofty were completely smitten with each other, even the patients could tell, and it was now a regular occurance for at least three patients to comment on how well they suitted eachother per week, not that Dom or Lofty minded (they both rather enjoyed it). All four of them spent the day in a productive manner: they managed to treat and discharge several minor cases, taken part in 2 surgeries and deal with grumpy patients without unnecessary complaints being made against them. At one point, a young woman came in with her daughter (who was around five or six years old by the looks of it), the lady was due to have surgery later that day, she originally planned to leave her girl at home with a carer but the babysitter had cancelled at the last minute, sensing the woman was flustered at her sudden and inconvenient change of plan, Lofty quickly helped to put her at ease:

 

“Well, I’m not going to be in your surgery, I could look after your daughter for the time being: take her to the creche so she can play for a bit, I’ll get her lunch and show her the garden of the Hospital. Is that alright?”

 

A look of intense relief washed over the woman, she hated to be a hindrance to anyone so knowing someone was willing to look after her daughter whilst she was in surgery made her feel a lot better.

 

“Oh, thank you, thank you so much nurse!”

 

“Is she allergic to anything, I don’t want to buy the wrong food for her lunch.”

 

“No she isn’t allergic to anything, let me know how much the food cost so I can give you the money back.”

 

“No need, it’s on me, you’ve got enough to handle besides paying for a lunch.”

 

“Oh nurse thank you so much, you’re a godsend, really. How can I repay you?”

 

“Just make sure you make a speedy recovery!” Smiled Lofty, the young mother’s surgery wasn’t for another hour and a half, so he left the lady and her daughter alone with each other and went off to continue his nursing duties, Dom followed behind him and he was beaming at Lofty’s kindness:

 

“Why are you so sweet?” He asked him as the pair of them made their way to the man desk.

 

“Young mum, 5 year old kid, no one to look after them whilst she’s undergoing surgery; I felt sorry for her. Plus, it’d distract the kid from the thought of her mum being in surgery.”

 

“Well aren’t you chivalrous?” Remarked Dom in a kind way, he always had a respect for Lofty when it came to patient wellbeing; maybe it was because he’d trained to be a counsellor and knew how to keep the mind happy, but Dom couldn’t help but notice how happy Lofty seemed to make everyone (especially Dom himself). When the time came for the young lady to go in for surgery, it was an emotional parting between mother and daughter. It wasn’t like there was any chance of danger or complication to the Mum’s surgery, but seeing her Mum in a big bed being carted away had freightened the little girl a lot.

 

“M-Mummy c-come back!” Sobbed the little girl as she watched her Mum’s bed be wheeled away to theatre.

 

“Remember what I told you love, I won’t be gone for long, I’ll be back before you know it! I love you darling!” Even the mum was emotional, seeing her baby girl like that hurt to say the least. Just before the mum was out of eyesight, Lofty went up to the small girl and began trying to calm her down:

 

“Hiya, my name’s Ben, but people here call me Lofty.”

 

“W-what’s going to happen to m-mummy? Why i-is s-she going a-away?”

 

“You see, your mum isn’t very well. And it’s our job to make her well again you see, so we just had to take her somewhere to give her magic medicine to make her better.”

 

“Is t-that all?” Asked the little girl, who had found comfort in Lofty’s calm and kind words, as her tears began to cease.

 

“That’s it, when you see her again she’ll be really tired, or even asleep, but that’s because the magic medicine we give her makes her really sleepy but she’ll be completely fine. Do you think in the meantime you could be really brave for her?”

 

“O-okay, yeah I’ll be brave, I’m super brave.”

 

“Could you tell me your name?”

 

“It’s Alice.” The girl replied as she wiped away the last of her tears.

 

Lofty was slightly taken aback at the mention of that name; a flurry of memories came flooding back to him, but all he had to do was take one look at Dom and he felt better, he quickly re-composed himself before speaking again:

 

“Well Alice, that is a very pretty name.”

 

“Mum calls me Ally for short.” The young girl went quiet for a brief moment before and idea came to her mind, “If I let you call me Ally can I call you Benny?” she asked excitedly.

Lofty could sense Dom giggling behind him at the young girl’s request (Benny was just too funny for Dom to handle).

 

“Why not Lofty?” Asked Lofty, hoping he could persuade her to change her mind about the other nickname.

 

“Benny sounds better.” She stated honestly. Lofty knew he’d already lost the fight so gave in quickly.

 

“Alright then Ally, you can call me Benny. Should we go for a walk in the gardens? There’s a pond with fish somewhere!”

 

“Yes please!” Responded Alice.

 

Dom quickly grabbed Lofty’s attention to speak to him, “Since when were you so brilliant with children?”

 

“I dunno, just a thing I can do. Can you come to the gardens with us?”

“Registrar duties have me busy till lunch sorry, when I’m off duty, text me where you two are and I’ll come meet you!”

 

“Sounds great, see you later!” Grinned Lofty, he gave Dom an affectionate peck on the cheek before leaving with Alice to head to the gardens. Dom smiled as he watched Lofty walk away with the young girl; Lofty held her hand incase she wandered off without him noticing. Sacha was already aware of what Lofty was doing and had given him the all clear, Dom then proceeded to get back to work, eagre for his lunch hour to arrive quickly. Meanwhile, Lofty and Alive had arrived at the gardens and were on the hunt for the fish pond (Lofty of course knew where it was, but pretended he didn’t so Alice could have a makeshift adventure), along the way they met Henrik (who was in the gardens enjoying the weather and his cup of tea), Alice made her way over and asked him if he wanted to help her and Lofty find the pond. Henrik gave one of his rare but genuine smiles and politely answered her:  
  
“I’m afraid I can’t at the moment.” He pondered for a while and then continued to speak, “However, I can tell you where it is if you answer my riddle correctly.”

Lofty smiled at Henrik, he loved how without even knowing, Hansson had joined in on the adventure in the best way possible (and much to Alice’s delight):

 

“Please Mr Doctor what’s the riddle?” She asked eagerly.

 

“The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?”

 

Lofty was immediately lost, he wasn’t good at riddles at the best of times. He found it unfair; _How could Henrik possibly expect a 5 year old child to answer that correctly-_

 

“Footsteps!” Proclaimed Alice.

 

 _How’d she know that?_ Lofty thought, Henrik seemed surprised too but he smiled warmly and congratulated the young riddle solver.

 

“I’m impressed, the pond is just around the corner, you may proceed.”

 

Alice squealed in excitement and rushed towards the direction of the pond, Lofty followed (but not without giving Henrik his thanks first) and quickly caught up with her. They sat next to the pond together and counted the fish and all their pretty colours, Alice’s favourite was the bright orange and gold one that looked like a giant goldfish, Lofty liked the big white one that mingled with the other fish but had a tendency to snap at one or two of them occasionally (it reminded him of a certain someone minus the gills). As they sat there Lofty received a text:  
  
“Sacha let me finish for lunch early, where you at? xx”

 

Lofty responded with their location and a kiss at the end of his message too, he put his phone away and started another conversation with Alice, “You were really good at that riddle, I couldn’t figure it out!”

  
“Me and Daddy use to do them all the time!” Exclaimed Alice, happy to hear the compliment.

 

“What’s your dad like?”

 

“He has hair like you but not as curly, he’s really handsome and always dresses nice, he works in an office with a cool spinny chair! I really miss him…”

“Does he work a lot?”

 

“Yeah, so he misses his time to come see me a lot.”

 

“To come see you?”

 

“Mummy said Daddy had to go stay somewhere else for a long time, but that he’d be able to see me 3 times a week.”

 

Lofty realised what the little girl was talking about, her parents were divorced, he tried to talk about it gently to make sure he didn’t upset Ally or tell her something she wasn’t meant to know.

 

“You know Ally, things like that happen, but I’m sure your dad loves you very much.”

 

“Like you love that doctor, Benny?” Asked Ally.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“You and the nice man in the red clothes, he told me he was a doctor. I saw you give him a kiss on the cheek, are you two best friends?”

 

“Why’d you think we’re best friends?”

 

“I see Mum give her best friends a kiss on the cheek when she sees them. She says she does that because she loves them.”

 

Dom had arrived mid way through their conversation, he didn’t enter it however, he stayed back to listen in on it. He didn’t do it because he was trying to be sneaky, he just wanted to see how Lofty would respond to the girl’s statement. Lofty didn’t feel fully capable of talking about it, but he gave the best response he could think of: “You see Ally, there are relationships like what you saw with your mum and dad, but that kind of love can happen between more than just a boy and a girl.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, so two girls can love each other and two boys can love each other too.”

 

“So you and the red doctor aren’t friends?”

 

“Well we are friends Ally, but we like each other the way you saw your mum and dad like each other as well.”

 

“Ohh.” Replied Ally as the puzzle pieces fell into place for her, “Do you love the red doctor Benny? Like the way my Mummy and Daddy love each other?”

 

“Yes, it’s exactly like that, I love him very much Ally.”

 

Dom felt like screaming with happiness, they hadn’t used the L-Word with each other yet (apart from when they first confessed their feelings to eachother), so to know Lofty did feel that way made Dom feel like he was walking on air. He quietly thanked Alice for being so curious before making his way over to join the conversation.

 

“Well hello, hello, hello!” He exclaimed as he sat down by the pond, he placed himself at the end of the group, next to Lofty.

 

“Doctor!” Exclaimed Ally, she was just about to say what Lofty had told her when she saw the curly headed nurse look at her and put a finger to his lips, she immediately understood that she wasn’t allowed to tell Dom and nodded her head in response.

 

“Call me Dom! So… What were you two talking about whilst I was working?”

 

“Just…” Lofty’s sentence trailed off as he thought of what to say, “That Ally here is really good at riddles!” he finished.

 

“Is that all?” Asked Dom teasingly, he knew what else had been said and that Lofty would be too embarrassed to say what it was, but he couldn’t help but find it adorable whenever Lofty blushed.

 

“Yep!” Responded Lofty almost immediately, “How was the rest of your shift?”

 

“Oh fine, Ally’s Mum will still be in there for another hour.”

  
“Why does it take so long for Mummy to get her magic medicine?” Cut in Ally, Dom looked at Lofty confused but realised soon enough that he needed to play along with the ‘Magic Medicine’ charade.

 

“Well Ally, some magic medicines take longer than others, your mum needs a special kind of magic that takes a long time to work, that’s all.”

 

“Oh okay, will it definitely help Mummy?”

 

“Of course, it’s magic!” Chimed in Lofty.

 

“Benny, I’m really hungry, can we get something to eat please?” Asked Alice.

 

“Yes we certainly can, how could I possibly say no to your lovely manners?” Replied Lofty.

 

“Benny..” Said Dom, “Can you buy me a coffee, please?” He made sure to draw out the word ‘please’ for added effect.

 

“Yes of course Dom, I’ll get you a coffee.”

 

The trio picked themselves up from the ground and made their way back to the hospital, Dom was holding Lofty’s hand and Lofty was using his other hand to hold Ally’s. They stopped at Pulses on the way to the shop and bought Dom’s coffee before heading over to the shop to buy Ally her lunch. Lofty gave Ally free range (within reason) of what she could eat, he was worried she’d end up picking just sweets and almost regretted his idea before she said:

 

“Benny can I have a cheese sandwich please? And apple juice.”

 

“Do you not want a sweet for later?” Asked Lofty as he grabbed Ally’s food and drink from the shelves.

 

“Can I get an egg for Mummy?”

 

“An egg?” Repeated Lofty, confused by the little girl’s request.

 

“I think she means a Kinder Egg Lofty.” Whispered Dom into Lofty ‘s ear.

 

“Oh, a Kinder Egg, are they nice?” He responded to Dom.

 

“You’ve never had a Kinder Egg Lofty, what was your childhood?"

 

“Sad.” Answered Alice. Dom and Lofty both looked at eachother and burst out into laughter at Alice’s response.

 

“C’mon mister, I’m getting you a Kinder Egg.” Said Dom, still chuckling as he grabbed two Kinder Eggs from the sweet section (one for Lofty and one for Alice to give to her mum). “Do you not want a sweetie Ally?” he asked.

 

“I don’t like sweets very much.”

 

“So you’ve never had a Sherbet Dip before?” Asked Lofty

 

“What’s one of those Benny?” She responded.

 

“Well you’re gonna find out!” He said as he grabbed three Sherbet Dips from the sweet shelf, “You gonna have one too, right Dom?”

 

“Sure, but I’m buying.”

 

“No don’t be daft I’ll-”

 

“I’ll make a deal, you buy Ally her lunch like you promised and I’ll buy everything else. Deal?”

 

“Oh okay, how could I say no to you?”

 

Dom and Lofty grabbed their own lunches and made their way over to the cashier, Ally was stood in the middle of the pair, beaming with excitement at the thought of her cheese sandwich. The cashier looked at Dom and Lofty, then Alice, and smiled:

 

“You two have a beautiful daughter!” She exclaimed as she scanned their items, “What’s your name darling?”

 

“My name is Alice! This is Benny and this is Dom!”

 

“Are they nice to you?” Said the cashier as she grinned.

 

“They’re the best!”

 

“Oh, I’m afraid you’re mistaken, she isn’t our-”

 

“Can you hurry up? I need to eat too!” Said the customer behind them, cutting off Lofty’s sentence. The cashier handed them their bag of goods and waved them off. Lofty knew it was pointless to correct her now and keep the line from moving even longer, so  took the bag from her and smiled. The three of them walked away and out into the beautiful weather so they could each their lunches at one of the benches. When they found a nice spot to sit, they made themselves comfortable and tucked in.

 

“I thought it was nice.” Said Dom.

 

“What you talking about?” Asked Lofty.

 

“That she thought we were a family or something, it was nice.”.

 

Lofty was about to say he found it slightly awkward, but when he thought about how much those words meant (saying they suited each other to the point of becoming a family), he smiled and agreed with Dom, “Yeah, it was a nice feeling.”

 

               

                            ------------[AFTER THE MOTHER’S SURGERY]------------

 

“Alright, alright I admit, the Kinder Egg was nice!”

 

“I knew you’d like it!” Exclaimed Dom happily, “The Sherbet Dip was nice too I must say.”

 

“For someone who was meant to buy retro sweets for Zosia’s wedding, I’d’ve thought you’d know what Sherbet Dips are. How was your lunch Ally?”

 

“It was great! Thank you Benny, thank you Dom!”

 

“Why don’t I get a cute nickname?” Asked Dom.

 

“Because that’s his job.” Replied Alice, who then pointed at Lofty.

 

“Very good point Ally!” Exclaimed Dom, “So Nurse Chiltern, what nickname do you have for me?”

 

“I’ll let you know later.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Putting me on the spot like this I have many nicknames for you. None of which are child friendly.” Lofty joked, “Let’s head back to Keller to see if her Mum’s back, it’s been about an hour, right?”

 

“It sure has.” Answered Dom, smiling at the flustered Lofty.

 

                          ---------[OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL AFTER WORK]---------

 

“I’ll pick you up at eight thirty tonight?”

 

“Yep, I’ll see you then! I’m excited to know what you have in store Mr Chiltern.”

 

“You’ll just have to wait and see Dr Copeland, I just hope you like it.”

 

“I’m sure I’ll love it.”

 

With those parting words the pair of them made their own ways home; Lofty rode his bike and Dom took a cab, it felt unusual to both of them that they weren’t going home together like they normally did. When Lofty got home he immediately sprang into ‘Damn it I don’t have much time’ mode, he jumped into the shower to freshen up, he dried himself off and got to work blow drying his curly head of hair; after that it was time to choose what he was going to wear: he went with his favourite black jumper with blue denim jeans, he then grabbed his pair of beige Desert Boots and put them on, he checked himself out in the mirror to double check that everything looked fine (and he was satisfied enough). He was tempted to go change but he knew he’d only be wasting time, the last thing he needed to do in order for his look to be complete was cologne. Lofty owned a specific bottle that Dom loved the smell of, so he dabbed it on and he was ready to go.

 

_Crap, I nearly forgot the most important thing._

 

Lofty rushed to his bedside draw where the small package was, he grabbed it and carefully placed it into his back pocket along with his keys and wallet. He dialed a cab to arrive at his for ten past eight and texted Dom that he’d soon be on his way.

 

When Dom arrived he also began to get ready immediately: he hoped in the shower and washed his hair, when he got out he blow dried it and styled it meticulously to perfection, when he was dried off he picked out his clothes: he put on a white shirt with black skinny jeans and a pair of timberlands, he accessorised his outfit with a leather jacket and he was good to go. He grabbed his wallet and keys and phone, soon enough he received a text from Lofty saying he was gonna be there shortly and his heart swelled with excitement, but he made sure not to forget the present he was going to bring that night. At 8:30pm exactly Lofty was outside Dom’s apartment building with the cab, Dom came down to meet him and get in the cab, when he saw Lofty standing there a massive smile spread across his face and the same thing happened to Lofty.

 

“You look great.” Remarked Lofty.

 

“I know.” Responded Dom jokingly, he made his way over to Lofty and the cab and gave him a hug (and immediately smelled the cologne Lofty was wearing), “You’re wearing my favourite cologne?”

 

“Maybe…” Replied Lofty, smiling, just when he thought Dom couldn’t be anymore attractive he was proven wrong, and he loved it.

 

“You scrub up pretty well yourself.” Commented Dom, what he really meant was _Holy shit you look amazing_ but he decided to keep that to himself.

 

“Would you care to step into the motor vehicle?” Offered Lofty as he held the car door open for Dom.

 

“My dear Lofty you are a victorian gentleman.”

 

“With you around I’m more like your footman.” Lofty joked in response.

 

When the pair of them were both in the car, Lofty gace the address to the restaurant he’d booked, when Dom heard Lofty say this he excitedly squealed “That’s my favourite!” When they arrived at the restaurant, Dom was incredibly excited, but he quickly remembered why he hadn’t gone in so long: it was expensive as all Hell.

 

“Lofty this place is super expensive, are you sure you want to go here?”

 

“Hey, it’s a special night and you’re a special guy. So it’s worth it!”

 

“Promise me you’ll split the bill with me.”

 

“Dom-”

 

“Lofty, please, I want to split it. The fact you remembered my favourite restaurant of all time is all ready romantic as hell, I don’t want you going bankrupt in the process.”

 

“Alright, we can split the bill.” Agreed Lofty.

 

“You’re the best!”

 

“That’s my line Dom.”

 

When they entered the restaurant, they were immediately sat down in their own private booth (which was decorated with a stunning candle holder), a bottle of expensive champagne was brought out and poured into each of their glasses as they were handed menus, Dom was almost hypnotised by the romantic set up, it was perfect to say the least.

 

“Lofty I swear if you spent more than £30s on that champagne.”

 

“We _both_ agreed that it was a special occasion, remember?” Lofty moved himself up the booth to sit closer to Dom and Dom moved himself closer to Lofty. After they both ordered the food, they talked the whole time; discussing each other's days and whatnot, they both agreed the Alice was adorable and that Kinder Eggs and Sherbet Dips were in fact nice. Talking was so natural it was as if they didn’t need a topic of discussion, all they needed was each other’s company. Soon enough the food was brought out and Dom and Lofty were both very excited: Lofty had ordered steak and Dom had ordered pasta, they each loved their meals immensely and wished their plates could magically refill themselves with food again. Neither of them could finish their main courses.

 

“I can see why it’s your favourite restaurant.” Stated Lofty, well and truly full from his meal.

 

“I could eat that again if it weren’t for the fact I’m full.”

 

“Well the dessert I ordered when I made the reservation hasn’t arrived so don’t speak too soon.” Lofty was beginning to feel nervous, he planned on giving his present to Dom when they received their dessert, but he worried Dom wouldn’t like it.

 

_Stop over thinking Lofty, it’s not helping._

 

Dom was feeling nervous too, he hadn’t about it all day, but he was worried Lofty wouldn’t like what he had in store for him. After their main courses, they got back into a steady and hearty conversation whilst they waited for their dessert, 20 minutes later a waitress brought over a cake which had _Here’s to 6 Months More_ and a heart iced on top of it. Dom loved it immediately and told himself he was sure there was still room in his stomach for cake, when it was set down on the table, Lofty grabbed his attention away from the chocolate temptation:

 

“Dom, I um, wow I don’t really know where to start.”

 

“Start what?”

 

Lofty took a deep breath in and exhaled a long sigh, he then grabbed a large-ish black box out of his back pocket and placed it on the table in front of Dom.

 

“I don’t know if you think this is too soon, or if you’ll like it for that matter, but I really wanted to give you this.”

 

Lofty removed the lid from the velvet box to reveal a golden bracelet, Dom gasped and picked it up carefully from the box, as he gazed at the beautiful gift he noticed a blue jigsaw piece engraved onto it.

 

“You’re my missing piece.” Stated Lofty. Dom expected Lofty to be blushing with embarrassment at such words but when he looked up from the bracelet he saw Lofty wasn’t blushing, he was looking straight at Dom with a smile on his face. _He really means it_ thought Dom to himself. Dom immediately put the bracelet on and was ecstatic to find it fit him perfectly.

 

“Lofty, this is gorgeous, I love it! The thing is…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I ,um, well, here.” Dom then produced a velvet black box from his pocket and placed it in front of Lofty, who then opened the box to find a silver bracelet, upon inspection of the stunning piece of jewellery he noticed a red jigsaw piece engraved on it.

 

“I was thinking the same thing - that you’re my missing piece.”

 

The pair looked at each other a burst into laughter, their romantic thought process was surprisingly similar in the best way possible, Lofty put on his bracelet and was happy to find his fit perfectly too.

 

“Well, now we can match!” Said Lofty, wearing his new bracelet proudly.

 

“I hope you know I’m never taking this off, except for surgery.”

 

“Same goes for me.” Agreed Lofty, “I didn’t think today could get any better, and then you go and make it perfect.”

 

“I love you Lofty.” Stated Dom, Lofty was almost caught off guard by those words, but when what those words meant had sunk in his heart flew, after what happened with Issac he knew saying something as important as that must’ve taken a lot for Dom - which made it all the more genuine for Lofty.

 

“I love you too, Dom.”


	5. A Day Worth Forgetting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a riot breaks out in Holby Prison, the Keller ward is shut off to civilians and is used to treat the injured inmates, but what'll happen when an unwanted patient arrives for treatment?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks to loftychiltern for helping me with the storyline! <3
> 
> WARNING: Physical violence and reference to a physically abusive relationship, if you are not okay with either of these subjects it may be best if you do not read this chapter.

 

        -------[INSIDE HOLBY PRISON]--------

 

Issac Mayfield sat there in his cell wallowing in self pity, he hated how he’d been caught, he obviously hadn’t broken Dom down enough. He waited for his cell door to be released so he could be let out to the canteen, he had no one to talk to, he was the smallest fish in a very big pond; he took in his surroundings for the 100th time that day: the exposed brickwork that was painted a dirty grey colour, the steel bars that kept him in his cell had been painted a pitch black colour, a toilet and sink was fixed to the wall in the corner of the cell, his bed was a simple steel frame with a cheap foam mattress and even cheaper sheets to go with it. It was his own private hell: no nice wine, no comfy bed, no love besotted fool to take his anger out on… He missed his good life. The alarm went to signal lunch time had arrived and the military-style process of releasing the prisoners from their cells began, when everyone had been let out they were led to the canteen like ants in a line, soon enough everyone had been filled into the canteen room and were sat down, table by table, inmates were allowed to and collect their food, Issac couldn’t stand the slop they were serving there, his only reason for eating it was to stay alive. When around ¾ of the prisoners had been served and sat back down to their tables, a loud cry was heard from one of the inmates; this acted like a signal for other inmates and soon the whole room was in violent protest. Prison guards had nothing to protect themselves expect measly batons (it was a low security prison, there was seen to be little to no need for guns) whereas Prisoners had plastic cutlery they they'd snapped into sharp weapons and their trained fists. Issac was soon caught up in the riot as one of the prisoners punched him him the gut, the blow made him fall to the floor gasping for air, but the prisoner began to kick him again and again over and over. Isaac's attacker was only doing time for fraudulence, but he’d heard what Issac had done and it made his blood boil, even if it meant more time the prisoner felt it perfectly necessary to give ex-Doctor a taste of his own medicine.

 

Meanwhile on the other side of Holby, Dom was having a very good start to his shift, Essie and Sacha were quick to notice the new bracelet Lofty had given him last week, and he loved showing it off. Lofty didn’t always have the same shift hours as Dom, there’d be days where Lofty and himself wouldn’t be working together at all since either Lofty had a day off or vice versa, but the precious bracelet made him feel like there was a small part of Lofty with him (which made him feel less lonely). Lofty was due to start his shift soon and Dom was looking forward to seeing his favorite nurse, when Lofty arrived for his shift he came in wearing his bracelet too, it was like it was permanently attached to him and he never seemed take it off apart from when he assisted in surgeries. 

 

“Morning handsome!” Greeted Lofty as he walked over to Dom, giving him a kiss.

 

“Good morning to you too!” Replied Dom, “We’re working together again today.”

 

“Sounds great, let me get changed into my scrubs and I’ll be on the ward soon. Morning you two!” Said Lofty as he walked past Sacha and Essie, they both greeted him back before getting on with work. Just as everyone began to continue their shift the phone on the main desk rang, Sacha picked it up quickly:

 

“Holby City Hospital, this is Sacha Levy.”

 

Murmured words could be heard on the other side of the phone, everything seemed fine till the natural smile on Sacha’s face turned into a frown.

 

“A you sure you can’t take them to another Hospital? What about  St. James’? Alright, okay I understand, we’ll prepare the ward.” He put the receiver down and pulled a face of worry and confusion. “That was Mr Hansson, there’s been a riot at one of the prisons, their sending the injured prisoners here. We’re gonna need to transport our other patients to AAU and E.D, this ward is being cut off entirely for the treatment of the inmates.”

 

“Just our ward? How many injured are there?” Asked Dom.

 

“Around 30 I think, but from the way Henrik was speaking it could be more. Will Lofty still be in the changing rooms?”

 

“Yeah, why? Do you want me to go and tell him?” Offered Dom.

 

“No I’ll tell him, Dom you should just get back to work.”

 

Sacha made his way to the changing rooms to Lofty, he had a sinking feeling in his gut that he coukd barely surpress in front of Dom. He knew what prison the inmates were coming from and the thought of a certain someone arriving made his gut twist, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Dom, so confided in Lofty.

 

“Lofty.” Stated Sacha as he entered the changing room, “We need to talk.”

 

“What’s up Sacha?”

 

“The was riot at Holby Prisons, our ward's being shut off to treat the injured inmates.”

 

“Jesus, what time are they gonna get here?”

 

“Soon no doubt, but I have a concern. Isaac is an inmate at Holby Prison.”

 

“Was he caught up in the riot?”

 

“I dunno, but if he shows up I don’t want Dom to see him.”

 

“Are we gonna tell him though?”

 

“It’ll upset him, I don’t want to be the one to break it to him.” 

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

“Lofty-”

 

“No Sacha, I can’t not tell him, it’s not fair. I’ll tell him so he can prepare himself, if he were to see Issac lying there without knowing he was at the hospital he’d lose it.”

 

“He’ll lose it anyway Lofty. Can you handle telling him?”   
  


“I’ll take him to the staff room, just us, I’ll be gentle about it.”

 

“Alright, thanks Lofty.”

 

Lofty and Sacha left the changing room together, immediately Lofty went to go find Dom, who he quickly found at bay 5 talking to a patient.

 

“Dom… We need to talk.”

 

“I’m a bit busy Lofty, I’ll speak to you in a bit, okay?”

 

“Dom no I’m sorry, this can’t wait.” Said Lofty, a looked of concern smeared across his face. Dom saw this look and could immediately tell Lofty meant it, he excused himself from his patient and followed Lofty to the staff room.

 

“So prison inmates are coming in.”

 

“Yeah… Sacha told me this.”

 

“Dom, they’re from Holby Prison, there was a riot this morning.”

 

“And?”

 

“Um… We don’t know for sure, but, Isaac could be coming in for treatment if he got caught up in the riot.”

 

Dom froze, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “You can’t be serious?”

 

“I am. Look there’s nothing confirmed about his arrival, but if he does I wanted you to know - we all did. I couldn’t not tell you.”

 

“Thank you… Thanks Lofty, for telling me, I’m sure it’s the last thing you wanted to have to do. I’ll make sure to be careful.” Replied Dom, normally he’d give Lofty a hug or a kiss on the cheek before heading back out to the ward, but this time he didn’t. Lofty understood why though, and had no problem with Dom not giving him intimacy after finding out such stressful information. Lofty went back onto Keller not long after Dom, but after 30 seconds of being on, a stream of gurneys came flooding through the ward. They were all inmates from Holby Prison, some of them were worse off than others, but it was apparent they all needed medical attention quickly. Lofty noticed Dom staring at each gurney that went past him, obviously trying to find on with Isaac in, but eventually turned away after realising he wouldn’t be able to take seeing him again. Just as he walked off to get away from the flood of arrivals, a handsome middle aged inmate was wheeled in: strong jawline, greying hair, piercing eyes that Lofty noticed were following Dom.

 

_ He has to be Isaac  _ Lofty thought to himself.

 

He seemed to be one of the worse off prisoners: a bleeding cut along his hairline, a large black eye, a cut lip and he was clutching his abdomen like it was hurting him immensely. Lofty couldn't help but think it served him right, but he didn’t say that out loud (even if everyone would agree with him). He didn’t go find Dom straight away because he wanted to see what Isaac was like, just in case he pretended to be nice later on with Dom there, he followed the numerous gurneys till they each branched off to different bays and then followed Issac Mayfield’s one. When they arrived at his bay, has was transferred from the gurney to the hospital bed and Lofty was left alone with him. For a long while, Lofty didn’t say a word and neither did Isaac until he could no longer take the silence.   
  
“Are you going to help me or not?”

 

“Oh, of course I will, just not right now.”   
  


“Why the hell not.”   
  


“I need you to answer a few questions for me.”

 

“Go on then.”   
  


“Are you Isaac Mayfield?”

 

“Yes, I am.”

 

“Did you use to work here?”

 

Issac paused at this bit but eventually responded “Yes…” although he sounded quite agitated.

 

“Did you hurt Dom?”

 

“I don’t know who-”   
  


“You know who I’m talking about don’t you dare deny it. Did you hurt him?”

 

“Yes I did, what’s it to you?” Responded Issac, he tried pulling a face of regret but Lofty could clearly see his lips curl into a smile at his own admission to the abuse. 

 

“More than you’d think.” Responded Lofty, who then walked away to treat other patients. He was angry, so really, he knew he was in not fit state to treat others; so he went to the staff room to make a cup of tea. Just as the kettle boiled over Dom entered the staff room.

 

“Oh you making a drink? Can I have one?”

 

“Coffee?”

 

“Yeah, thanks.”

 

“No problem.”

 

“I was wondering where you’d gone. Normally we work on patients together.”

 

Lofty froze at those words, he almost couldn’t bring himself to say but he knew for Dom’s sake he’d have to:

 

“Isaac's here.”

 

No response

 

“But Sacha said you can stay on the other side of the ward.” Offered Lofty, “You don’t have to be anywhere near him.”

 

“Alright, Lofty, alright.” Responded Dom, he quickly left the room after that, the possibility of Issac being there was one thing but the knowledge he was lying there on Dom’s ward was a whole other ball game. Lofty followed him immediately to make sure he wasn’t going over to Issac, when he was sure Dom was keeping himself to the other half of the ward, Lofty continued to work. An hour passed and work went back to normal (despite the thick atmosphere smothering the room; Sacha and Essie didn’t want to treat Isaac and neither did Dom, Lofty didn’t want to help the man who abused his boyfriend but he was forced to treat him with a simple:

 

“Nurse, over here, now.” From Isaac’s direction.

 

“Yes, Mr Mayfield?” Asked Lofty, begrudgingly making his way over.

 

“What does it take to get some treatment around here? Did everything go downhill after I-”

 

“What it takes is for the patient to have patience, and for them to not be a complete-”

 

“Ah, ah, ah… Nurse Chiltern…” Interrupted Isaac, the way he said it nearly made Lofty shiver, “You don’t want to receive a complaint do you? Abusing a patient, how unprofessional.”

 

“You want to complain about abuse do you?” Asked Lofty rhetorically, “I wasn’t there when you did what you did to Dom, but I swear to God if you so much as upset him I’ll-”

 

“You’ll what?” There was no response from Lofty, “That’s exactly what I thought. So, tell me, what’d your relationship with him?”

 

“We’re dating.” 

 

When Isaac heard this he flinched, it was like salt was being rubbed into his metaphorical wounds as well as his literal ones and Lofty enjoyed it, “How long, a month or so? Child’s play.”

 

“I doubt that 6 months of dating is child’s play.”

 

“What?”

 

“We’ve been together for over 6 months. If you do the maths that’s a little over 182 days. So I’ll repeat myself - not child’s play.”

 

“Little Dom learnt to grow up how sweet, and I thought he’d never get so far-”

 

“Do me a favour and stay the hell away from him, you’re done messing with his head.”

 

“Is that because he’s yours now.”

 

“He’s not my property, he’s his own person and he can make his own choices, but I know for a fact the last thing he needs is you.” Replied Lofty, shoving Isaac’s stats back into the holder, he walked away knowing if he stayed any longer it wouldn’t do him any good. Isaac was angry but he’d learnt to hide that; all that time in prison, if he so much as showed any hostility, it would only lengthen his already long sentence. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted another nurse working away on one of the other inmates, an idea formed in his head when their eyes caught each other and the nurse grinned. Isaac grinned back, knowing what he was going to do would make himself feel much, much better. Sacha was the first to see Lofty when he arrived back to the other half of the ward, he could tell Lofty was fuming so made his way over:

 

“You okay Lofty?”   
  


“It’s Isaac, I can’t stand him.”

 

“You talked to him?”   
  


“Briefly. Sacha, he doesn’t even look sorry for what he did!”

 

“People of his nature never are sorry for their actions Lofty.”

 

“He was talking like what he’d done wasn’t a big deal. Like it wasn’t detestable.” Lofty was clearly upset at his brief encounter with the ex-registrar, Sacha had never seen him like this and it honestly freaked him out a little.

 

“Lofty, please, I know this must be tricky for you - it’s tricky for all of us. But you need to remain calm, for Dom’s sake, okay?”

 

“Alright. I promise, for Dom.”

 

“Good lad. Let’s get some of these inmates back to their cells then, c’mon, most of these can be discharged easily enough.”

 

For the next hour Lofty made himself busy, and so did Dom: they worked together the whole time, they didn’t speak much given the circumstances but both understood why the silence was there and neither of them were bothered by it. Dom just appreciated Lofty giving his support as much as he could and Lofty appreciated not having to think about Isaac since he was so busy. 32 inmates had come through the hospital doors and onto the Keller ward, and it was packed more by the police keeping an eye on the prisoners. Whilst Dom and Lofty were talking about one of the inmate’s treatment, out of the corner of his eye Dom saw Isaac from across the ward, he felt his chest tighten and his thoughts go blurry; he almost felt himself go weak as the colour drained from his face. Lofty was quick to notice this:

 

“Dom, are you alright?”

 

But Dom was silent.

 

“Dom, love, speak to me-” But Lofty cut himself off as he followed Dom’s eyes to what they were looking at - Isaac. Not only Isaac but another nurse as well, the pair of them were flirting with each other openly and no one seemed to be stopping them, whilst talking to the nurse Isaac turned his head and looked at Dom dead on and smiled at him devilishly before continuing his conversation. All Dom could see was red, a violent and crimson red. He immediately rushed himself towards Isaac and his new found ‘friend’ ready to go ballistic, Lofty (sensing what was about to happen) ran after him to make sure he didn’t do anything he would regret later. He wouldn’t regret his decision. Dom quickly made his way over to Isaac’s hospital bed and began venting every word he never got to say:

 

“How dare, how dare you do what you did to me, I didn’t deserve any of it. You fucking broke me and you know it, look at your smug face, you deserve every day you get at that hell hole and I hope you rot there. My only regret is that whoever attacked you didn’t hit you damn hard enough-”

 

“Dom, please that’s enough.” Pleaded Lofty as he entered the confrontation.

 

“No Lofty I’m not done, I have plenty to say to him.”

 

“Would make a change. You were always such a coward when we were together.” Stated Isaac, still smiling his damn smile.  Dom’s red anger turned bright white, it was like he’d left his body or like he had no control of his actions. He felt himself lunge forward at Isaac, ready to attack, when he felt someone pull him back and restrain him: Lofty.

 

“Lofty let me go, let me go right now! I’m not finished with him” He yelled.

 

“Dom I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to do this, but I can’t let you risk your career.”

 

“Lofty let me go, let fucking go of me.” Dom was kicking at this point, trying to punch the air hoping it would release him from Lofty’s grasp (Lofty had forced Dom’s arms down to his waist and had his arms wrapped around his torso so he couldn’t attack Isaac). He strained under Lofty’s grip, he was a lot stronger than Dom thought, but that didn’t stop him from trying as he tried to punch and kick his way out of the vice like grip.

 

“Lofty I swear to God let me go!”

 

Lofty was already dragging him away to the staff room, an isolated space where he couldn’t do significant damage to anyone or anything. When they got to the door, Sacha was already there holding it open so Lofty could bring Dom inside, as soon as the pair were in there Sacha shut the door and locked it so Dom couldn’t get out. Lofty sat himself and Dom down, and held Dom in a bear hug from behind, Dom still hadn’t calmed down:

 

“Lofty, let me hit him, I want to hit him he deserves it so much. He’s still trying to mess with me, trying to hurt me and I can feel it. He knows what he’s doing and I want to hit him, please.”

 

“I can’t let you do that. I can’t stand there and watch you throw away your career because of your anger.”

 

“I’m so angry Lofty, I need to hit him. Lofty…” Dom was crying at those point, it was like his emotions had been loaded into a shotgun and fired, but his ammunition didn’t hit its target.

 

“Then hit me instead, take it out on me: kick, punch, scratch, scream, yell, I don’t care, but I’m not letting you leave this room Dom.” Replied Lofty, Dom knew Lofty wanted to let him go but couldn’t, he could see Lofty hated him seeing like this but his emotions where out of his control at that point, he also knew he would never hurt Lofty so taking it out on him was out of the question. He sat there on the floor with Lofty, sobbing till his eyes were red raw and then some, Lofty held him all the while and comforted him the best way he could whilst controlling his own anger; he wanted to hurt Isaac just as much and Dom did, he should’ve known better then to think Isaac would stay away. He felt angry at himself for letting Dom stay on the ward, he felt angry for a lot of reasons but he made sure they didn’t cloud his thoughts - the main thing on his mind was keeping Dom safe. For over half an hour they sat there like that, Sacha made sure no other staff member would enter the staffroom whilst Dom and Lofty were inside. Dom had calmed down a lot, but he was still upset and angry on the inside, but crying his emotions out seemed to help somewhat helped (as well as Lofty’s warm hold on him). Almost an hour into to the pair of them sitting on the floor of the staff room together, Sacha cautiously entered the room:

 

“Guys, Isaac’s been transferred to another hospital, they're loading him onto the transport ambulance as we speak. I got in contact with the prison about them sending him over wrongly, they apologised and said that they withdraw any complaints Isaac has an will make on his behalf.”

 

“Well isn’t that good of them.” Replied Dom sarcastically. Lofty looked at Sacha and silently nodded his head in thanks, Sacha smiled back and let the two of them alone again. There was a long pause where nothing was said, until:

 

“Dom I’m so sorry about restraining you back there, it felt like the only thing I could do, did I hurt you anywhere?”   
  


“Lofty it’s fine. To be honest, thank you for holding me back, I dunno what would’ve happened if you hadn’t. I’d definitely be fired. I’m so sorry for screaming at you and swearing and everything, I’m really terrible.”

 

“Don’t be daft Dom, it’s not your fault. There’s no need to apologise to me. Are you okay?”

 

“I’m so tired…” Replied Dom, his eyes were raw and certainly tried looking.

 

“Well, I’m sure Sacha won’t mind if you got sleep in the on-call room?”

 

“Can, can I just sleep here?”

 

“He’ll be fine with that too, want me to go?”

 

“No, please stay, I don’t want to be on my own after that.”

 

“Alright then.”

 

Dom made himself more comfortable in Lofty’s arms, he buried his head into Lofty’s chest as Lofty comfortingly stroked his head, soon enough Dom had fallen asleep and Lofty stayed there with him; it was so quiet and Lofty was so drained that he eventually fell asleep too. The pair of them ended up sleeping right through the rest of their shift, but Sacha let them stay like that, he knew full well that what Dom was going through was hellish and that Lofty was trying his best, it was hard not to be tired emotionally and physically after what’d happened. Essie commented she was worried for their relationship, but Sacha felt pretty at ease: if the pair of them would stay strong after today and remain and sturdy in their relationship as ever, there was no doubt in his mind they would make it work. The end of the work shift came, and Sacha was about to head home when Essie reminded him of something:

 

“Are you gonna let Dom and Lofty sleep in the staff room overnight?”

 

“Damn, they’ve been asleep this whole time, and it’s been so busy with two hands down, it slipped my mind. I’ll go wake them up.”

 

Sacha quickly made his way over to the staff room (which had been out of bounds to other nurses due to Dom and Lofty still being in there), he unlocked the door again and quietly opened the door, the sight in front of him was quite adorable: Dom was curled up into a little ball with his head still buried in Lofty’s chest, his eyes looked less puffy and red (which made Sacha happy to see) and Lofty had fallen asleep with his head resting against on one of the walls, one of his arms had fallen limp to his side but the other was still protectively wrapped around Dom whilst the pair of them slept. As gently as possible he tried to wake the peaceful pair up:

 

“Guys, guys it’s time to wake up!”

 

Lofty was the first of the two to stir awake from Sacha’s words, he rubbed his eyes sleepily as he took in his surroundings, he then remembered what’d happened.

 

“Do you want us back for work?”

 

“No, I want you two to go home! I let you sleep the rest of your shift.”   
  


“Oh, crap, sorry, neither of us expected to fall asleep for so long.”

 

“It’s no problem at all, just make sure you get home. Have the day off tomorrow Lofty, same thing goes for Dom. I’ll see you two on Monday.”

 

After Sacha left the room Lofty woke Dom up, but he was still half asleep, Lofty dialed a taxi and got himself off the floor before picking Dom up in a damsel in distress hold, Dom wrapped his arms around Lofty’s neck as  carried him to the entrance of the hospital, just as they got out the taxi arrived. After making sure Dom (who’d fallen back asleep) was buckled into his seat Lofty gave the driver the address to his apartment and they were soon on their way. Lofty spent the journey gently combing his fingers through Dom’ hair, Dom loved this and it made him feel safer, Lofty then planted him a kiss on the forehead to which Dom smiled in his sleep. When they arrived at Lofty’s apartment complex, Lofty had to carry Dom up several flights of stairs (since the elevator was out of use), he barely managed to unlock his front door whilst holding Dom at the same time. They eventually got inside the apartment and Lofty sighed as Dom’s weight began to make his arms ache, he walked over to the bedroom still holding Dom and placed him on the bed. 

 

“What’s happening?” Asked Dom groggily.

 

“You’re at my place Dom, you’re still in your uniform so I need you to help me take it off so I can give you  some pajamas, okay?”

 

“Okay…” 

 

The next 10 minutes were spent with Lofty struggling to take off Dom’s uniform and struggle even more at trying to redress him in pajamas, but he eventually got the job done. He tucked Dom under the bed sheets before heading over to the couch to sleep there. The rest of the night was almost peaceful: Dom slept soundly, and Lofty eventually fell asleep too, but he couldn’t help but worry for Dom. Upon waking up the next morning, Dom took in his slightly unfamiliar surroundings as he remembered the previous day’s events, he slowly got out of bed and walked around what he eventually recognised as Lofty’s apartment. But where was Lofty? He walked all around the apartment but his curly headed nurse was nowhere to be found, eventually he came across and note on the kitchen counter:

 

“Couldn’t sleep, went for a walk. There’s plenty of stuff in the fridge to make breakfast and there’s coffee in the cupboard next to the oven x” Lofty finished his note with a doodle of a jigsaw piece, which made Dom smile, he felt... Better. After what happened yesterday he felt better knowing he was with Lofty; not only did he love the guy but he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle being alone in his own apartment all day, he felt pretty lucky to have a man like Lofty. His morning went pretty well: made himself breakfast and coffee, turned on the Tv for a movie and admired the view from the balcony for a few minutes; all he needed now was Lofty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! Any comments or criticisms are welcome :)


	6. Collars, Leads and an Accident Prone Pooch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lofty decides to get a pet dog, but is it the smart decision to make?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya, after the last chapter, i needed a bit of fluff to even it all out! hope you enjoy, let me know your comments or criticisms in the comments below 
> 
> NOTE: I did take inspiration from another dom and lofty fic about a dog, especially with the dog's name. However, I've tried to be as original as possible with the story line itself.

When Lofty came back home from his walk, Dom rushed to hug him tightly.

 

“Missed you.” He said as he buried his head into Lofty’s shoulder. Lofty reciprocated the hug and chuckled slightly.

 

“I wasn’t gone for very long! How are you feeling?”

 

“Better now you’re back.”

 

Lofty tried not to smile at those words but couldn't help himself, he gave Dom a short but sweet kiss before speaking again, “You know, Sacha gave us the whole day off. What do you want to do?”

 

“Can we go for a walk?”

 

“A walk?”

 

“Through the park, it’d be nice.”

 

“Alright, I just went there and found a nice route. Get ready and we’ll head off!”

 

Dom quickly got dressed and grabbed his jacket, Lofty sat on the couch and waited patiently for Dom, when he was ready the pair made their way out of the apartment and walked over to the park (which was as stunning as ever). The trees were thick and full of deep green leaves, the sky was a pearly pale blue and the air was beginning to chill; Dom and Lofty held hands as they walked through the park, they talked of small and insignificant things and made jokes and tried to make a light conversation in the midst of what had happened. As they headed through the route Lofty had found not so long before, they walked past a fellow park-goer walking their dog (a gorgeous old Bloodhound), Lofty couldn’t help but perk up at the sight of the canine and muttered excitedly to Dom:

 

“Dom would it be weird if I asked to pet the dog?”

 

“Possibly, for the dog owner, yes.”

 

The dog and its owner went past the pair and kept walking, Lofty was still smiling from seeing the dog, and began to speak again:

 

“I’d like a dog one day. A dog would be _really_ nice actually.”

 

“How'd you look after it? You’re a nurse Lofty, in a busy hospital.”

 

“My friend Sarah is a dog sitter, I’m sure I would sweet talk her into looking after the dog whilst I’m at work, especially if I buy her enough bottles of her favourite wine. Plus, I can turn one of my spare rooms into a dog room, I would keep the dog there so it’s not cooped up.”

 

“Lofty are you being serious?”

 

“Deadly. I’d really love a dog. Keep me company.”

 

“Am I not doing a good job?”

 

“No of course you are, but when you’re at work and I’m not, gets lonely sitting around my apartment all day.”

 

“Where’d you get a dog from?”

 

“The local shelter. Loads of dogs there need good homes.”

 

“What about all the extra costs?”

 

“Most dogs at the shelter already have their injections, buying food won’t be too bad, dog toys will be easy, it can’t be that bad. Besides, I’ve been saving up for a dog for a long time anyway… You know what? Let’s get down to the shelter.”

 

“Now, right now?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Lofty I don’t know if you’ve thought this out properly…”

 

“Come on Dom, a new dog sounds brilliant! I’ve been thinking about getting one for a long while now, it’s not _completely_ spur of the moment.”

 

“Are you really sure about this?”

 

“Completely.”

 

Dom looked at Lofty for a long while, and Lofty looked straight back - he was being serious. Dom let out a sigh before replying: “Alright, let’s go! I trust you completely about this, and you’re your own person, you can definitely handle a dog.”

 

“Brilliant! I’ll call for a cab to pick us up outside the park.” Lofty immediately got out his phone and called for a cab to meet them at the park entrance, the pair hurriedly made their way back to the entrance and waited for the taxi (which promptly arrived). The two of them got on an Lofty gave the driver the address to the local dog shelter and they were soon on their way; Lofty sounded excited the whole journey, like he was back at school and he’d just been told homework had been banned. Dom would help but smile at Lofty’s happy face, and found himself eagre and looking forward to getting to the shelter. Fifteen minutes later, the taxi driver arrived outside the shelter, Dom paid for the taxi and they both got out the vehicle. Lofty was beaming at this point, the idea if being surrounded by dogs made him very happy, when they got inside Lofty felt his heart melt as he saw all the dogs. Whilst Lofty stood in the middle of the room dumbstruck, Dom made his way over to the main desk:

 

“Hiya, we don’t have an appointment or anything, but we’re hoping to adopt a dog and take it home today?”

 

“No problem! Here at the Shelter we don’t make appointments, and no dog we take in is put down, unless it’s for the good of their own health.”

 

“Aww brilliant, we’d love to take a look around!”

 

“Of course, I’ll do the honours if you don’t mind?”

 

“Sounds great, lead the way Miss?”

 

“Do call me Lucy!”

 

“Right then Lucy, lead the way! Lofty, come on love.”

 

Lofty reacted to Dom’s call immediately and made his way over, he smiled at the Shelter worker and he took Dom by the hand, “I’m excited!” He exclaimed as Lucy toured them around the shelter. The first row of dog cages they walked past contained big, sloppy dogs like Dogue De Bordeauxs, Great Danes, Akitas and the like; Dom and Lofty found them all stunning but were quick to agree that a big dog wouldn’t be suitable for a flat and it wouldn’t be fair for the dog. They moved on to the medium sized dogs and it was a similar case, either the dogs were too difficult to own for medical reasons, or they were too old (Dom and Lofty didn’t want to grow attached to their dog only to have to say goodbye to it). When they moved onto the small dogs and puppy section, Dom and Lofty were confident they’d find the one. At one point down the row of dog cages, out of the corner of his eye, Lofty spotted a black Cocker Spaniel puppy with brilliant blue eyes.

 

“What about this one?”

 

“He’s new, got dropped off last week, but this is his second time here.”

 

“How come?” Asked Dom.

 

“He was found with his three brothers and two sisters in a cardboard box. Someone adopted him not long after his first arrival but they found him too troublesome.”

 

“Why get a dog if they think it’s troublesome?” Asked Lofty.

 

“What they didn’t know is that this little guy is extremely clumsy.”

 

At that very moment, the dog padded over to the food bowl in the middle of its cage. Before he could eat however, he fell into the bowl and knocked it over, which in suit made the water bowl next to it spill. Dom chuckled slightly and Lofty felt his heart melt even more.

 

“Dom, he’s so cute, I want to take him home.”

 

“Really? Are you sure sir, the previous owners said he was a lot to handle.”  Intervened Lucy, she meant well, she just wanted to ensure the couple made the right choice.

 

“Definitely. I can relate to him, a lot more than I’d like to admit.” Replied Lofty.

 

“If this is the one, then you should get him.” Stated Dom. Lofty went closer to the cage and bent down to get closer to the dog’s level.

 

“Want to name him?” Asked Lofty.

 

“M-me?” Replied Dom.

 

“Yeah, name him!”

 

“Oh, um…” Dom thought of names as he joined Lofty in bending down to the dog’s level, he looked at the small Cocker Spaniel puppy before rattling off names, “Pepper? Sooty? Um, Dexter? Hanssen?” But none of his suggestions seemed to appeal to the puppy, Dom stayed there stumped till a metaphorical light bulb went off in his head:

 

“Digby?”

 

The puppy’s ear instantly pricked up at hearing this name and made its way over to the couple (not without falling over on the way). Lofty held his arms out for the dog to walk into, which is exactly what it did, as he gently stroked its fur Lofty spoke to it:

 

“Hi Digby! You have a great name, Dom did a very good job!”

 

“Glad you both like it.” Said Dom, smiling at the puppy, “You can see a resemblance between the two of you, you know.”

 

Digby seemed to understand this as much as Lofty and let out a bark of glee, “Why’d you say that?” Asked Lofty, laughing slightly.

 

“The dark curly hair.”

 

“Ah, fair enough, you’re right! Any differences?”  


“He’s cuter than you.”

 

“Hey!” Objected Lofty, he was smiling since he knew Dom was only playing around.

“I’m messing, you’re cute too.”

 

“Darn right I am!”

 

Lofty and Dom burst into laughter, Digby the dog (not understanding what was funny) proceeded to lick Lofty’s face lovingly, to which Lofty almost squealed with happiness. The only other time Dom had seen Lofty smile so much was when he got his silver bracelet on their 6 month Anniversary. Dom signalled that he’d like to hold Digby and Lofty happily obliged to his request, the dog immediately began giving little kisses on Dom’s face and Dom couldn’t help but smile immensely.

 

“Looks like he likes you!” Commented Lofty.

  
“And I _love_ him!” Replied Dom, he turned his head to Lucy and spoke, “We’ll take him!”

 

“Are you sure?” Asked Lucy, still hesitant to give them such a problematic pooch.

 

“Definitely.” Replied Dom and Lofty in unison, both entirely serious.

 

“Right, well if you come with me, we’ll sort out the paperwork so you can take him home today whilst one of my colleagues prepares Digby’s travel bag.”

 

“Travel bag?”

 

“Oh, yeah I should mention, every dog gets a travel bag; so the new owner has the basics to care for them properly for the first couple days, as well as a toy.”

 

“Great! Let’s get this paperwork sorted then!” Exclaimed Lofty, he gave Digby one more tickle before putting him back in his cage before following Lucy back to the main desk. Dom followed suit and it wasn’t long before they were filling out the application:

 

“Names?”

 

“Lofty Chiltern and Dom Copeland.”  


“Lofty? Unusual name.”

 

“He means Ben.” Corrected Dom, “His proper name is Ben Chiltern, Lofty is his nickname.”  


“Oops.” Said Lofty, smiling.

 

“Address?”

 

“Apartment 56 in the Pembrose building, next to Derby Park.”

 

“Right, are the pair of you living together.”

“No not yet.” Replied Dom. He’d said it so casually that he hadn’t realised what he’d said, but Lofty noticed and he was absolutely beaming about it. Even if it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon (after Isaac, it wasn’t good time, plus it was too soon in the relationship), the fact Dom had said those words was enough.

 

“Occupations?”  


“I’m a nurse and Dom is a doctor, at Holby City Hospital.” Replied Lofty.

 

“Ooh, workplace romance?” Asked Lucy.

 

“Yeah, something like that.” Replied Dom, Lofty nodded his head in agreement.

 

“It’s like that for me and my girlfriend too, she’s the head vet that oversees the treatment of  all the dogs here, she’s brilliant at what she does!” Said Lucy.

 

“So is he!” Said Dom and Lofty in unison, they were both talking about each other, all three laughed about what’d happened before finishing up the rest of the paperwork. A little over an hour or so later, everything was good and ready to go, the vet came out with Digby (who was on a little purple lead) and a bag filled with things Dom and Lofty would need as first time dog owners.

 

“Hi baby!” Exclaimed Lucy as she rushed over to the vet.

 

“Hiya love!” The vet replied, giving Lucy a tender kiss on the cheek, she handed Digby and the bag over to Lofty who took both eagerly, “He’s a very accident prone Dog so keep an eye on him, but I know you’ll love him.”

 

“We already do!” Replied Dom, smiling happily.

 

Dom and Lofty left the shelter with their goodie bag of dog stuff and Digby, they phoned a taxi that would cater to having dogs in the vehicle and were soon home and back at Lofty’s apartment. Lofty picked up Digby so they would walk up the several flights of stairs to his apartment, when they got through the front door Lofty let out a whoop of excitement.

 

“Lofty, we have work tomorrow.”

 

“I can call in sick?”

 

“Lofty…”

 

“Dom, I know, it sounds bad, but I’ll tell Sacha the take out we ordered made me ill, please? I can call Sarah and tell her to look in on Digby when I’m at work the day after, take him on a walk and feed him. It’s literally her job anyway, so she won’t mind.”

 

“Oh, alright, but only tomorrow, promise?”  


“I solemnly promise I’ll pretend to be ill for just one day.” Replied Lofty, giving Dom a huge kiss on the cheek before getting back to Digby, “First things first is his dog cage and toys! We’ll leave the stuff the vets gave us here, head over to the pet shop and buy the necessities.”

 

“We’ll have to bring Digby.”

 

“We’re going to the pet shop, it’ll be fine! Come on, it’s a 10 minute walk away.”

 

Dom put down the bag he was carrying that held all the items they got from the shelter, grabbed his wallet and jacket and made his way with Lofty back out onto the street. Digby was very excited with the big world he hadn’t experienced before, almost every smell was new to him, so the journey itself was very stop-start (not that Dom and Lofty minded). When they eventually got to the pet shop, they were welcomed by the big round shop keeper with a grey beard and grey hair, he had a very cheery disposition and always seemed to be smiling:

 

“Hello! My name is Elliot, but do call me Ellie, and _who_ is this handsome fellow.”

 

“This is Dom.” Said Lofty, gesturing to his Registrar boyfriend.

 

“I’m talking about the dog my dear boy.”

 

“Oh, well, this is Digby!”

 

“Absolutely fitting! Now, is this your first dog together?”

 

“Digby is technically just his, but we’re both gonna be spending a lot of time with him, so I guess we could say it is our first time raising a pet together, right Lofty?” Said Dom.

 

“Yeah, I guess we could.” Lofty agreed.

 

“Splendid! Do follow me, what are you looking for today?”

 

“Just the basics really: Puppy food, a dog cage, toys, treats, a collar and tag, and food and water bowls that doesn’t tip over easily if you have them.”

 

“Quite a lot of basics! The last one is oddly specific.”  


“Digby here is very accident prone, has a habit of knocking over his dinner from what we saw at the shelter.”

 

“Ah, well, I’m sure I can find something that’ll accomodate for that!” Replied Elliot, “One moment, if you please, I’ll just go collect everything you need.”

Elliot left Dom and Lofty stood by the counter, they both acted like first time doting parents with Digby: calling him endearing names, cradling him, playing with him and the like. They were playing peek-a-boo with him when Elliot came back from the shop’s storage (his arms loaded with items), he smiled at the apir and would instinctively tell they’d be very good pet owners together.

 

“Well you two, I have some stuff here. Of course this is quite a lot and you’re not going to need all of it, you can choose what you need from the selection and buy just those things.”

 

“Perfect, thanks Ellie.”

 

Lofty and Dom perused the selection, everything they could possibly need was at their disposal and then some. The picked up the puppy food, a pale blue collar and lead, a small bag of treats and a few toys.

 

“As for the bowls, I’m afraid you’re going to have to do with normal bowls for now. However, come back in a couple days, I’ll make two bowls with heavy weights in the bottom of them, so there’s no possibility of little Digby making a mess.”

 

“That’d be amazing! Are you sure?”

 

“Of course, it’s not problem at all, in fact it’s my job to help people with their pet problems.”

 

“Well, we’ve picked what we’ll need, and we’ll take two food bowls as well please!”

 

“They’re just over here, I’ll grab them, put your items on the counter and I’ll put them through for you in a moment.” Ellie quickly grabbed to small metal food bowls from a shelf and walked behind the counter to rack up the cost of Dom and Lofty’s items, when he was finished scanning the items he called out the final total: “£32.50 please.”

 

“That’s… pretty cheap.” Stated Lofty as he grabbed his card out of his wallet.

 

“Yes, this shop sell items at lower prices compared to big brand shops. Plus, it’s your first time shopping for a pet and at this shop, so I gave you a sneaky discount.”

 

“Aw, thanks for that!” Said Lofty as he handed over his card, but Dom was quick to cut in.

 

“Can we split the cost?” He asked.

 

“Why? Money isn’t a problem Dom, this card is for an account I set up years ago specifically called ‘Dog Fund’, why do you want to split?”

 

“Well… I got to name him, and he’s amazing, and I’d feel bad if I didn’t pay my share. Besides, we’re practically going to raise him together.”

 

“Are you sure you want to pay?”

“Positive.”

 

“Alright then, Ellie, could we split the cost?”

 

“Of course you can! Also, there’s a treat bowl just at the end of the counter, feel free to take one or two for Digby, they’re small so they shouldn’t be an issue for him to eat.”

 

“Thanks Elliot, we’ll definitely be returning here for our doggy needs!” Replied Lofty as he took the plastic bag of purchased products from the shopkeeper’s hand.

 

“How lovely, I look forward to seeing you both soon!”

 

Dom, Lofty and Digby promptly left the pet shop, all three of them were very pleased with their buyings and they looked forward to getting back to the apartment. Digby, again, lengthened the walk by stopping and sniffing every few moment; occasionally he would smell something and sneeze from it, Dom and Lofty both found this socute they had no qualms with the short walk becoming a long one (plus it meant they had more time to hold hands). When they got back to the apartment, Dom placed the bag of items on the counter whilst Lofty unhooked Digby from his lead; he took of the cheap black collar he’d been given back at the shelter and replaced it with the new pale blue one they’d bought at the shop. It suited Digby immensely. Lofty immediately got to work setting up the dog crate in the spare room whilst Dom poured food and water into the new bowls and fed Digby - the happy couple were very pleased with their new dog and were excited to raise him together.

 

“Dom, I um, I dunno how to do this.” Called Lofty from the spare room, his attempt to put the collapsable crate together had been in vain, and he sat there on the floor dumbfounded by it. When Dom entered the new Dog room he couldn’t help but chuckle as Lofty sat there trying to piece together the crate.

 

“Alright Lofty, we’ll figure it out together, just let me bring Digby in - I don’t want to leave him in the living room alone.”

 

“Alright, thanks Dom.” Replied Lofty, appreciative of Dom’s offer to help. Dom quickly returned to the room holding a soaking wet Digby.

 

“He fell in his water bowl…”

 

“Oh no, one sec I’ll go grab a towel.” Said Lofty, picking himself up off the floor and rushing to the bathroom to grab a cloth to dry off Digby, “He’s certainly clumsy, good thing Elliot’s putting weights in the bottom of some food bowls for us!” Exclaimed Lofty whilst he searched for a towel.

 

“He’s a nice guy, you’re lucky you live close to his shop.”

 

“I certainly am.” Agreed Lofty as he walked back into the spare room where Dom and the now wet Digby were waiting. Lofty took Digby from Dom and began to gently dry him off, “You shirt is soaked, you can go borrow one of my shirts if you want?”

 

“Yeah, thanks Lofty, one sec.” Thanked Dom, quickly leaving the room to change shirts. Whilst he was gone, Lofty continued to dry Digby off till there wasn’t a drop of water left on his curly black coat. Dom soon returned wearing one of Lofty’s black T-Shirts, the curly headed nurse couldn’t help but think how well it suited the Registrar, “This is off to a flying start.” Joked Dom.

 

“Aw, come on, it’s no _too_ bad. Besides, look at him, he’s too cute!”

 

“Alright, you’re not wrong there. Right, let’s get this crate set up!”

 

The next 20 minutes were spent struggling to set up what seemed to be just a simple metal box, but the pair couldn’t decide on who was in fact reading the instructions correctly (as it turns out, neither of them were), and when they finally finished putting the infernal contraption together, they collapsed on the floor in exhaustment. Digby found the whole spectacle of his two owners struggling immensely to put together a metal box highly entertaining to watch, he didn’t know what the box was for, but he did like the look of it.

 

“Finally! Never thought we’d get it finished.”

 

“Same here, that took _much_ longer than anticipated.” Agreed Dom

 

“Let’s just hope Digby likes it.”

 

“I swear if he doesn’t I’ll just live in it instead, I’ve spent too much time on it for it to not be used!” Joked Dom.

 

“I’ll join you!” Lofty replied, lifting himself up off the floor to grab some items (in order to make the crate seem more homely to Digby): bedding, a toy and some small treats. When he first tried to coax the small cocker spaniel into the crate, the puppy didn’t budge; the crate certainly looked inviting, but he just didn’t feel sure about it.

 

“Come on Digby, it’s a good crate, just try it… please?” Pleaded Lofty.

 

“Lofty, love, he’s a dog he’s not going to understand what you’re saying-”

 

At Lofty’s words Digby bolted over to the crate and got inside, he sat himself down in the middle of the bedding and barked happily at the couple in front of him.

 

“You were saying, Dom?” Asked Lofty smugly.

 

“Alright dog whisperer, maybe he can understand you, I’m just glad he likes the crate.”

 

“Me too!”

 

Dom and Lofty spent the rest of the day playing with Digby: attempting (and failing) to teach him tricks, having him properly learn his name, play fetch and other such activities. Neither of them thought playing with a puppy for a few hours would be so tiring, so were surprised to find themselves sleepy as they sat on the couch later that evening watching a film. Lofty was lying on the couch and Dom was comfortably lying on top of him, they were watching Mary Poppins, when Andrew the dog appeared on screen and began to bark; Digby began to howl back at the screen, which made both Dom and Lofty’s hearts melt it was so cute.

 

“I didn’t think one puppy would bring me to the verge of passing out.” Commented Dom as the credits rolled on screen.

 

“Me neither, he’s certainly a handful, we’ll have to be careful and make sure his clumsiness doesn’t end up hurting him though.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

“Do you like Digby?” Asked Lofty.

 

“Yes of course, I love him, why wouldn’t I?”

 

“I was worried you’d still think my decision to get him was a bad one, plus I wanted to make sure you liked him is all.”

 

“You made a good choice Lofty, granted it’ll be tricky to care for him at first, since you’re a nurse and all.”  


“My friend Dylan owns a dog, Dervla, and he works on the E.D!”

 

“Well then, if Dylan can do it, you certainly can too.”

 

Lofty gave a loud and long yawn before speaking again, “Should we head to bed? It’s pretty late, we’re all tried.”

 

“Sounds like a plan, come on mister, I’ll help you up!” Offered Dom as he picked himself up off the floor.

 

“I’m not an old man!” Protested Lofty, accepting Dom’s help anyway.

 

“What about Digby?” Asked Dom.

 

“He can sleep with us!”

 

“Lofty, we got him the crate for a reason!”

 

“Just for tonight, and maybe the night after, but I can’t leave him in here on his own, we just got him. Please?”

 

“Oh… go on, but this can’t become a normal thing, DIgby will take over your bedroom before you realise it.”

 

“Yes! You’re the best! Come on Digby!” Lofty gently scooped the very tired Digby into his arms and carried him into the bedroom, Dom followed behind him with Digby’s bed; once they’d out the dog bed down in a good spot (next to the radiator, but not too close), they changed into their pajamas and each got into bed, it’d been silently agreed Dom would stay over that night. They gave each other a good night kiss before getting comfortable, then Lofty spoke:

 

“Dom… Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

 

“After what happened yesterday, I’ve been worried all day to be honest.”

 

“Worried?”

 

“You been so calm and happy all day I was worried you were just pretending.”

 

“It’s alright Lofty, I wasn't pretending, it’s been a really great day today.”

 

“That’s good, I’m really happy to hear that. Goodnight Dom, I love you.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

The two of them curled up against each other, warm and safe in each other’s hold as the moon shone above them (it’s gentle glow coming through Lofty’s bedroom window). Digby was fast asleep on his bed next to his owners, he didn’t quite know where he was but he definitely felt safe there, plus he liked his new name a lot! The trio spent the night peacefully, all happy to be together, Dom and Lofty were excited to raise Digby together, and couldn’t wait for the adventures ahead of them because of their new little puppy: maybe he would become a show dog, or the world’s smartest pedigree? Or maybe he would become a much loved dog, that snoozed away the days, with a habit of being clumsy? Yeah, that sounded more like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if Lucy and her Veterinary Girlfriend should become regular characters for the fic? <3


	7. Silence is The Worst Pain of All (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIS A TWO PARTER SO IM SORRY THIS IS PRETTY SHORT. ALL TOGETHER IT SHOULD BE LIKE A 14-16 PAGE STORY LINE THO
> 
> someone asked for some angst so here it is :)

Dom was pissed, he was hurt, he was confused and Lofty was the cause of all his negative emotion. As he sat on his couch in his apartment drinking his red wine, wearing one of Lofty’s hoodies, he simmered away at the day’s events. They’d been going out for months, Digby was still his adorable puppy self (though slightly bigger), they’d told each other they loved each other countless times. So _why_ did he go and say _that_? His day had started off normally, he arrived at work (alone since Lofty’s shift started before his) and walked over to the changing rooms to get ready for the busy day ahead of him, just as he got to the door of the changing room he heard two familiar voices in the distance:

 

“So… How are you and Dom?” Asked Sacha cheerfully.

 

“We’re fine.” Responded Lofty bluntly.

 

“You two have been dating for quite some time now, haven’t you?”

 

“Almost 9 months.”

 

“Wow! Brilliant, I’m so glad you two are together! You must really like him.”

 

“I wouldn’t say I liked him Sacha.”

 

The rest of the conversation was out of Dom’s earshot, but his stomach dropped as he heard Lofty’s words. He _didn’t_ like him? After all the time they’d spent together, after everything they’d gone through? It made no sense, it hurt, it really hurt. Dom opened the door and went to his locker and quickly got changed. He tried his best to shove the conversation he’d heard out of his head, but it wouldn’t shift and it was all he could focus on, he was quite startled when Lofty entered the room.

 

“Morning Dom!” Lofty greeted Dom cheerfully.

 

Dom couldn’t answer, he couldn’t speak to Lofty, he didn’t want to speak to Lofty - not after what he’d heard back there… He just started at Lofty for a long time before walking past him and going onto the ward to start his shift. He left Lofty feeling very confused in the middle of the changing rooms. Normally Dom would’ve been overjoyed to find out he’d be working with Lofty on all his patients for the shift, but on that morning  all he felt was dread.

 

“Dom, is everything okay? Did something happen-” Began Lofty.

“Yes something happened. And I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want you to talk to me full stop.”

 

“I, I don’t understand?”

“I have ears, I can hear things Lofty, conversations, I do have the ability to make judgment of what others say around me. If you’re going to speak to me make it only about work, understand?”

 

This only confused Lofty more, but if it was something Dom wanted, Lofty would go along with his request, “Oh, alright Dom, if that’s what you want.” Lofty looked visibly hurt, but he wasn’t going to complain if it meant it would upset Dom. For the rest of the work day Dom refused to talk to Lofty, he didn’t want to break up with him, but after hearing that conversation he didn’t know what to think anymore. Lofty stuck to Dom’s request and didn’t try to speak (unless it had something to do with work), although he would attempt to make eye contact with Dom, who in return purposefully ignored him. By lunchtime Lofty felt like going to the changing room to cry, it hurt so much when Dom ignored him, and to make matters worse he had no idea why Dom was ignoring him in the first place, on his lunch break he decided to go for a walk in the gardens to clear his head. The scenery was stunning despite the cold weather: the grass was glazed over with frost, the flowers had curled in on themselves (ready to bloom when the weather was kinder) and the trees stood completely still like guards on sentry duty. Lofty in the gazebo, where Arthur’s plaque was, sat there thinking; he was in a world of his own as he sat through the silence of own companionship, until Mr Hanssen came along.

 

“Oh, hello there Mr Chiltern.”

 

“Mr Hanssen! Hi, how are you?”

 

“I’m quite alright, the real question is: how are you?” Asked Hanssen as he sat himself down next to the curly headed nurse.

 

“Oh, I’m fine.”

 

“Really?” Asked Hanssen, giving Lofty one of those _There’s no point lying to me_ faces, which worked.

 

“No… Dom’s mad at me. He won’t even speak to me, and I don’t know why! I haven’t done anything wrong, I think.”

 

“Well, when did he start ignoring you?”

 

“First thing this morning, he walked past me like I don’t even exist.”

 

“Well, Mr Chiltern-”

 

“Please call me Lofty sir.”

 

“Well, Mr Chiltern, you know very well Dominic is the unpredictable card of the deck. You just need to find out what’s making him act like this.”

 

“Easier said than done sir.”

“Very true, you have a point. I guess then, you’ll just have to work even harder to get through to him.”

 

“Do you think it’ll work?”

 

“Undoubtedly. Dominic is certainly a handful at times, but he’s a good man.”

“I know that.”

 

“Yes, since you are the one dating him.”

 

“That… That might not last long judging by what’s happened today. Maybe he doesn’t like me anymore, maybe he hates me?”

 

“Don’t focus on the _maybes_ then, focus on figuring out the truth and go from there.”

 

“Thank you Mr Hanssen.”

 

“No problem at all Mr Chiltern, my pleasure.”

 

“I should be getting back to the ward sir, I’ll tell Dom you said hi.”

 

“Please do, goodbye Mr Chiltern.”

 

Lofty walked back to the hospital feelings slightly more hopeful, even if he thought there was a slim chance of getting through to Dom, he was hopeful. That would soon change. He re-entered the ward and heard the familiar whirring and buzzing of medical machinery in the background as he headed to the main desk, Essie was sat there typing away so didn’t notice Lofty’s return, Sacha was sat right next to her but noticed Lofty immediately; he pulled a face of pity before speaking to the curly headed nurse.

 

“Lofty… Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“I’m fine, I’m completely fine, why?” Lied Lofty.

 

“It’s Dom, he asked me to separate you two for the rest of the shift. When I asked why, he didn’t answer me, he just walked off.”

 

Lofty felt his heart drop to his gut, in fact, he was definite his heart had stopped altogether.

 

“Is there any chance you would talk this out with him.”

“No… Not anymore. Sacha can I go to the changing room for a bit?”

Sacha understood Lofty wanted to go there so he would compose himself, or at least cry where no one would see, he nodded his head and Lofty slowly walked away to changing rooms. He sat on one of the benches and a gush of memories came to his mind: this was the place where Lofty would steal secret glances as he and Dom got ready for their shift, once they got together it was the place where they’d greet each other and give each other good morning kisses, it was the place they’d go when they just wanted to talk during lunch as Dom sipped on his coffee. Rather than getting away from it, Lofty felt like he’d stepped into one of the key places of their relationship, he tried not to cry but a few tears couldn’t stop themselves from falling. It just hurt too much; after everything he and Dom had gone through yet Dom wasn’t talking to him, or maybe he’d stopped loving him all together? It was a thought that Lofty didn’t want to dwell on, but did so anyway. After a few minutes, Lofty wiped the tear marks off his face and tried to compose himself, he looked into the mirror in the corner of the room and saw his eyes were slightly red (he hoped it wasn’t too noticeable), he straightened out his uniform and put on his best smile before leaving the room. As he opened the door to leave, Dom had opened the door to enter, they looked at each other for a long while and Dom was quick to notice the redness under Lofty’s eyes, which confused him - shouldn’t _he_ be the one in tears about all this? Lofty looked down to the floor before getting past Dom to go back to the ward, and Dom stood there still dumbfounded by Lofty’s tears. The rest of the day was slow and weary: Sacha had accepted Dom’s request before he’d informed Lofty, so the two of them were separated all day, Sacha had also tried talking to Dom about what was happening but Dom refused to tell him, Lofty was inconsolable. It was a painful day for the two of them and they both wanted it to be over as quickly as possible, but things were only just beginning. At the end of the shift Lofty waited for Dom in the changing room as a last ditch effort to get through to him; he hated the idea of having to corner Dom just to speak to him, but it seemed like the only thing he could do. When Dom walked in and saw Lofty he froze at the doorway, he quickly decided to just pretend Lofty wasn’t there and entered the room. Despite knowing what Dom was trying to do, Lofty eventually cut through the icy silence and spoke:

 

“You, um, seem to be mad at me.”

 

No response.

 

“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong… But if I have, I’m so sorry Dom, please stop ignoring me - it hurts when you do this to me. It’s only been a day but it hurts so much.”

 

Still no response.

 

“Dom speak to me, please!”

 

“What do you want me to say?” Asked Dom, “I can’t believe you don’t know what you did wrong! Are you really trying to play the innocent card Lofty? After everything we went through, good to know how you never cared at all.”

 

“When have I _ever_ said I don’t care for you, of course I do, you know I do-”

“Do I? Really, because that’s not what you’re making out. Are you messing me about?”

“No, of course not I would never mess you about. Look at this!” Exclaimed Lofty, showing Dom the silver bracelet on his wrist, “If I didn’t love you would I be wearing this, would I have gotten you one too? Dom I love you-”

“Don’t say it. Don’t  you dare say it when you know you don’t mean it.”

 

“You can’t say that, don’t say that, of course I love you.”

 

Dom stared at Lofty and for the first time he felt anger towards him - anger and heartbreak, “I can’t believe you.” He stormed out the changing room without even getting changed, he just took his bag of clothes and left. Lofty sat there more confused than ever, confused and hurt and sad. He too eventually left the changing room, but he left feeling completely numb and unaware to the attempts Sacha made to talk to him as he left, he was in a breaking world of his own and no one was going to bring him out of it. That night the pair of them went home feeling a whirlwind of emotions, both unaware of the misunderstanding. Lofty spent the night hugging a pillow since it was the closest thing he had to Dom, Dom spent his night drinking strong wine and curling up on the couch in one of Lofty’s oversized hoodies (it felt like he was getting a big hug and he needed one). Eventually, the Registrar received the text from Sacha:

 

“What happened today? You really upset Lofty”

 

“Well he upset me”

 

“What did he do?”

 

“He said he didn’t like me Sacha, after all this time he felt nothing for me”

 

“He what?”

 

“Don’t play dumb you were the one he was talking to, I heard the pair of you this morning.”

 

“... Dom”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“That’s not what he meant”

 

“Then what did he mean?”

 

“When I asked him if he likes you he said ‘I wouldn’t say I liked him Sacha. More like I completely adore him, he’s just amazing, safe to say I’m the luckiest man living.’ Dom, you’ve misunderstood everything”

 

“Why’d he sound so fed up?”

 

“You would be too after losing a patient, him and old Mrs Harrison had quite the patient and nurse friendship, but she passed away early this morning Dom - heart failure.”

 

Dom felt his heart drop, he put his phone down on the side table and sat there hating himself - how had he managed to presume the worst of Lofty _again_? He couldn’t face Lofty after that, what if Lofty didn’t want to be with him anymore after that? Dom felt his gut twist at the thought of Lofty breaking up with him, he couldn’t bear the thought of it, he didn’t want it to end like that. That night the pair of them tossed and turned in their beds, missing each other’s embrace. The next morning was difficult to wake up to for them both; Lofty didn’t want to spend another day with Dom ignoring him and Dom didn’t want to face up to his actions (in fear of it being the end of their relationship). Lofty struggled to find the willpower to get out of bed, but eventually forced himself to get ready for work, the couple were due to start work at the same time. When Dom left his apartment the weather was cold and dark, he turned up his coat collar to the vile wind and bitter cold and began his journey to work; he noticed how everything seemed to be under a lense of sorts - it all looked pale, like someone had sucked the colour out of everything (or maybe Dom’s heart was just playing tricks on him). As he walked through the car park of the hospital, he saw Lofty half way across a zebra crossing.

 

“Lofty!” Dom called out.

 

Lofty immediately turned his head to the sound of Dom’s voice, he saw Dom trying to smile at him and he smiled back, relieved that what ever had caused Dom to ignore him was seemingly no longer a problem. He failed to hear the sound of the car engine in time, and Dom didn’t react fast enough. An audible noise from the collision was heard as the car struck Lofty full force from behind, Lofty went over the vehicle upon impact, when he hit the floor he didn’t move, he didn’t move at all. Pure panic punched Dom in the gut and he nearly doubled over, but he didn’t, instead (almost like he had no control over his body) his legs propelled him over to where Lofty was lying on the concrete (the car had already sped away); he was quick to notice the blood coming from Lofty’s head and a flurry of diagnoses ran through his mind.

 

“Lofty, oh God, Lofty can you hear me?”

 

No response.

 

“Lofty answer me, open your eyes!”

 

Still no response.

 

“Someone help us!” Begged Dom as he began to do everything he could. Dom didn’t have chance to emotionally react, he let his brain focus on helping Lofty, but that didn’t stop him from taking in Lofty’s state: a deep crimson stain went across his face (sticking his curls to his forehead), one of his legs was clearly broken and his body was sprawled out in an awkward position. Help couldn’t come fast enough. Eventually two paramedics arrived and placed Lofty on a gurney, at this point Lofty was bleeding profusely and his breathing had become haggard and laboured and shallow. The last thing Sacha or Essie expected was to see one of their teammates be rushed in for urgent treatment but that’s exactly what they got. Dom had a vice like grip on the side of the bed, he wasn’t going anywhere, he wasn’t going to leave Lofty now or ever again. Sacha had to force him away from the gurney so the nurses could get to Lofty easier:

 

“Dom, you’re stopping them from working quickly, you needed to get away from the gurney.”

 

“Sacha it’s all my fault, what have I done, I’m going to lose him and it’s all my fault!” Sobbed Dom as he grabbed on Sacha and hugged him tightly.

 

Sacha reciprocated the hug and tried to comfort Dom as best as he could, “He’s gonna be okay, he’ll pull through.”

  
In the distance the words “He’s flatlined, start compressions now!” could be heard from one of the medics as they loaded Lofty into the elevator. Dom broke from Sacha’s hold and sprinted to the elevator, he entered the already crammed metal box and clutched Lofty’s cold hand whilst a nurse performed CPR.

 

“Lofty please don’t go, you can’t leave me alone, please don’t leave me alone.” Dom begged through his tears.

 

“It’s not working, start up the defibrillators now.” Ordered one of the workers,Dom’s tears grew more intense upon hearing this, the worker then turned to him and spoke, “Sir please step away from him, we can’t have you getting electrocuted.”

 

Dom reluctantly released his grasp from Lofty’s hand, he stood there watching the nurses and doctors attempt to restart Lofty’s heart in that tiny little elevator. His tears blurred his vision but he still seemed to be able to see the nightmare directly in front him with perfect clarity.

 

“Charge to 50… Clear, shocking!” Lofty’s body convulsed with electricity, but his heart wasn’t starting.

 

“Charge to 100… Clear, shocking!” Again, Dom watched as Lofty’s body jumped as the shock ran through it, but to no avail.

 

“Charge to 150… Clear, shocking!” Again, nothing.

 

The medics all looked at each other, nodding in agreement that theatre was Lofty’s only remaining option, Dom understood their silent communication and began to cry even harder because of it. Suddenly, there it was: a pulse. It was faint, but it was there, and there was a sigh of relief shared amongst all the medics; the elevator doors opened up and the nurses began wheeling Lofty out of the small elevator as the doctor gave more orders:

 

“Send him into ICU now, he’s going to need constant surveillance, he’s far from out of the woods yet. I want brain scans and X-Rays as soon as possible, in the meantime stem the bleeding from his head and someone read his medical files.” He turned to Dom who was nearby, “Sir, I suggest you to the cafe or the gardens in the meantime, it’s going to be a long while before you can see him. What is he to you?”

 

“He’s my everything.”


	8. Silence Is The Worst Pain of All (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lofty's recovery from the accident is rocky, but hkw well can his relationship with Dom be mended?

“He’s my everything.”

 

Just as the nurses and doctors had grown hopeful, Lofty took another turn for the worst. It wasn’t noticeable at first, he was struggling to breathe from the get go, but like a bolt out of the blue, he couldn’t breathe altogether. Dom was quick to hear the painful hacks, splutters and coughs emanating from Lofty and was quick to react. As Lofty began grasping and clawing at the sides of the bed, searching and gasping for air, Dom realised what was happening.

 

“His one of his lungs has collapsed, get me a breathing tube now!” Exclaimed the Dom as he rushed back over to Lofty’s gurney. He felt his stomach and heart do summersaults as he looked into Lofty’s eyes: they well dull and glazed over, like the pain had stolen the familiar and friendly twinkle out of them. A nurse was quick to hand him and tube as another wheeled in a mechanical ventilator, “Impact caused a collapsed lung, he now has barely 60% lung capacity, his body’s going to go into shock again if we don’t hurry up!” Yelled the Dom as he began to slide the tubing down Lofty’s throat, when the tube was in and connected to the machine the team of medics hurriedly rushed Lofty down for theatre. 

 

Lofty was quickly sent in for emergency surgery, the scans would come later, the surgeons now not only needed to ensure that Lofty’s organs were unharmed but they now had to fix his collapsed lung (as well as check his ribcage for any fractures or breaks). He was in theatre for what felt like days, but it was in fact a little over 2 hours when Lofty was wheeled out of the surgery room: there was no severe damage to his organs, although there was large fractures along his ribs (from landing front first on the concrete); his collapsed lung had been fixed in a process as well, however, he’d still require breathing support. After surgery came his full body assessment: his left leg was completely broken and he had a badly damaged shoulder; his head had a heavy bleed (which had already been stemmed and stitched) to which his scans came back clear for head trauma - to say he looked broken was an understatement. Dom followed the gurney back to ICU, but fell back as the true severity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks, he fell to his knees and began hyperventilating; the air around him seemed to be used up oxygen, like nothing was entering his lungs. He’d had panic attacks before when Issac was around, but none of them were to this severity, luckily, the Director of Surgery appeared.

 

“Dominic? Can you stand?” Asked Henrik Hanssen and he bent down to Dom’s eye level to speak.

 

“I- I don’t think, no, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe oh my God I can’t breathe-”

 

“Look at me Dominic, look at me and take deep breaths.”

 

“Hanssen help me-”

 

“I’m trying to Dominic, but in order to help you I need you to look at me and take deep and long breaths. Understand?”

 

“What about Lofty, Henrik I shoved a tube down his throat, he wasn’t breathing, he flatlined at one point - he was _ dead. _ ”

 

“And we need to get your breathing under control. Do as I ask and just look at me Dominic.”

 

Dom eventually did as he was told and looked at Henrik, he took the deeps breaths and slow inhalations and eventually his breathing became more regular (although still uneasy). Henrik stayed with him the whole time, crouched on the floor till he could get Dom to sit into a chair nearby, when the two of them sat down Dom immediately fell into Hanssen’s chest and sobbed. Henrik responded with a tight hug and his best attempt at comforting words (since he didn’t want to get Dom’s hopes up in the process of making him feel better):

 

“He’s getting all the help we can give him Dominic, we’ll do everything we can for him.”

 

“If I hadn’t called him as he was crossing the road…”

 

“Witnesses say the car was speeding, the driver went over the zebra crossing wrongly, there’s no way you would’ve foretold what would happen.”

 

“If I hadn’t pressumed the worst of him then this wouldn’t have happened in the first place… I love him yet the last thing I did to him was hurt him. Why is he with me? Henrik I’m the worst, yet he’s stayed by me all this time. What happens if he wakes up and doesn’t love me anymore?”

 

Henrik paused in thought before answering, “Strange.”

 

“What?”   
  


“When I was talking to Mr Chiltern yesterday he said the exact same thing: he was worried about you falling out of love with him. Have you?”

 

“What, no, of course not! I couldn’t imagine my life without him!”

 

“Well then, there’s your answer - he still loves you as much as you love him.”

 

A nurse cut the conversation short, “Sir, Mr Chiltern is in ICU, if you want to go be with him you can.”

 

“Thank you.” Replied Dom, quietly. He looked at Hanssen and smiled, his own silent way of thanking him, before getting out of his chair and shakily making his way towards Lofty’s hospital bed. He was following the nurse, so asked a few questions along the way:

 

“Is he awake?”

 

“I’m afraid not.”

 

“How’s his breathing?”

 

“Due to the collapsed lung, he’s still on ventilation support.”

 

“Brain scans?”

 

“No severe trauma.”

 

“X-Rays?”

 

“His left leg is broken in two places, and multiple fractures in his ribcage from how he impacted the tarmac.”

 

“How’s his pain?”

 

“He’s on ten of morphine, and he’s asleep so I’d say next to nothing right now.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

“Sir, I want to warn you, he’s not in the best shape, it’ll be an unpleasant surprise when you see him.”

 

“It’s alright, I’ll manage it. I’ve seen similar injuries on myself, no doubt I’ll handle it on someone else.”

 

How very wrong he was.

 

It was true, obviously, that Dom had experienced such injuries; at the hand’s of a monster, but nonetheless he had sustained them and dealt with them and watched them fade away. But nothing would prepare him for what he saw when he walked into Lofty’s private ICU room. Lofty was there, covered in tubes and wires and an ungodly stench of ‘clean’ was apparent. Lofty looked like a child, almost cocooned in his blanket, like his mum had just tucked him in. Multiple bruises along his arms and face was beginning to show themselves, Lofty’s leg was in a brace (since the nurses hadn’t had a chance to put it in a cast yet), the scariest thing of all was the long tube coming from Lofty’s throat that connected to the ventilation machine beside his bed. Dom felt tears prick his eyes and fall from his face, he felt like falling to the floor again to start sobbing, but he kept himself standing before collapsing in the chair beside Lofty’s bed. He looked at his love for a long, long while, taking in the horrific sight in front of him. Lofty… Didn't look like Lofty anymore - just a shell of his former self, and it hurt so damn much to see that. He gently took Lofty’s hand in his own and began to stroke it with his thumb, Lofty’s face (which was contorted in unease and pain) relaxed at the comforting gesture; even asleep he knew he was safe, that he wasn’t alone.

 

“Hiya Lofty…” Began Dom, he exhaled a slight chuckle, he felt ridiculous for speaking to someone unconscious, but it helped. “I know it won’t mean anything, but I’m so sorry. I pressumed the worst of you again and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Even when I’m at my happiest I manage to mess things up for myself. I’m not even going to use Issac as an excuse - he’s got nothing to do with this, it’s all just my fault.”

 

No response.

 

“I just wanted to let you know I love you so much,” Stated Dom, as he choked out the words his grip in Lofty’s hand grew a little, “and I always will. And I am so sorry for everything I’ve done to you.”

 

Dom sat there with Lofty, just speaking and not getting a response, sometimes it was Dom apologising, but most of it was Dom trying to talk about random things that would distract himself from the situation surrounding him. Sacha had already called in an agency nurse so Dom didn’t have to work that day, he spent every hour with Lofty; if he had to eat he would of course eat, but it would be something quick so he didn’t have to take forever in the shop. Eventually visiting hours ended, and a nurse came to tell him it was time to leave:

 

“Sir, it’s time for you to go home now.”   
  


“Please, let me stay, I’ll sleep in the hospital.”

 

“Where’ll you sleep? You’re a worker here, right? How about the staff on call room-”

 

“I’ll sleep on the floor if I have to, but please, don’t make me leave his side again.”

 

The nurse looked at him and sighed, “I’ll see what I can do for you, but no promises.”   
  


“Thank you.”

 

The nurse eventually came back with good news, after speaking to her higher ups (who then spoke to Hanssen), sleeping arrangements were made for Dom so he could sleep next to Lofty, although it wasn’t exactly glamorous: It was a small mattress just big enough for the registrar, there was one small and flat pillow and thin bed sheets, it wouldn’t be an easy rest but Dom didn’t care - he was too grateful to care. He spent the night tossing and turning on the small “bed”, but the sound of Lofty’s rhythmic breathing settled him in a short sleep. Normally he was a heavy sleeper, but given the day’s circumstances, the sound of a pin drop would have woken him up; which was lucky given what happened in the early hours of the new morning. At around three in the morning Dom was startled awake by the sounds of haggard breaths and monitors going off, he leapt up off the floor and saw Lofty was waking up - scared and confused by the tubing in his throat and the buzzing drone of the devices surrounding him.

 

“Can I get some attention here please?” Called Dom and he got off the floor to go to Lofty, “It’s alright love, I’m here, everything’s alright.” 

 

The nurse form before appeared, disappeared to get a doctor and came back; the doctor looked very happy to see Lofty awake of his own accord and quickly got to work removing the tubing. Dom had to turn around, he couldn’t bare having to look at the painful process Lofty was going through, when the tube was removed Lofty was settled back into the bed and given an oxygen cannula and some pain relief (which helped him to relax as he got accustomed to breathing on his own) and Dom was quick to rejoin him at his bedside. 

 

“Lofty…” Behan Dom, but his words faded into his own guilt.

 

“Hi Dom.” Replied Lofty, his voice sounded sore and croaky, it definitely hurt to speak, but he did so anyway, “What happened?”

 

“You… You were hit by a car whilst crossing the road.”

 

“No, not that, you know what I’m asking. What happened to  _ me.” _

 

Dom froze, he didn’t want to tell Lofty what’d happened, but he wasn’t prepared to lie to him because of it: “On the way in for treatment, you flatlined in the elevator. You were resuscitated but a few minutes later your left lung collapsed and your body nearly went into shock, that why you had a tube in your throat - it was connected to a ventilator. Your leg is also broken in two places.”

 

Lofty let out a gasp as he caught his breath, “I… I was dead?”

 

“Yes. I thought I’d lost you.”

 

“Didn’t think you’d care if you did, not after what happened recently. What did I do to make you so  _ angry _ at me? Telling me I didn’t love you.” Lofty has tears in his waterline: being told he’d died as well as being in front of someone who didn’t believe he loved him, it was a lot to take in at once.

 

“Lofty, love, I’m so so sorry. I overheard you speaking to Sacha yesterday morning, all I heard from the conversation was that you said you didn’t like me. Sacha explained my misunderstanding last night, Lofty please forgive me, I’m so sorry. I know I don't deserve your-”

 

“I forgive you.”

 

Dom paused, dumbstruck by Lofty accepting the apology, “What?”

 

“I forgive you.”

 

“Why? I don't deserve it, I pressumed the worst of you  _ again _ .”

 

“Dom I don’t think you realise just how much I love you. I’d give up my world for you - this, the accident, is nothing compared to the pain I felt at the thought of losing you Dom.”

 

“What can I do to fix it? I can’t just leave it at you accepting my apology.”

 

“Please, just, don’t ever leave me again?” Said Lofty. It wasn’t a demand and it wasn’t even a request, it was more like a prayer, begging for Dom to stay.

 

“I promise, I’ll never leave, I mean it - Lofty I love you.”

 

“I love you too Dom.” Replied Lofty as tears fell down his cheeks; they were a mixture of relief and fear from what’d happened, but the happy feeling overwhelmed any other emotion and he smiled through the tears. Dom leaned out of his chair and gently hugged Lofty, Lofty (to the best of his ability) hugged back by warmly wrapping his arms around Dom’s back. 

 

The next few weeks were spent in anxious wait for Lofty’s recovery.

 

After two weeks of in hospital surveillance, Lofty was allowed to go home on paid sick leave, Lofty wasn’t impressed with his lengthy sentence of time away from work, but he knew he needed the time off in order to get better. Dom was adamant in taking care of Lofty whilst sick: helping him with the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, ironing, hygiene, walking Digby and much more; he was going above and beyond for Lofty’s sake. Lofty greatly appreciated the help, but didn’t want to be become lazy and just let Dom do all the work, so (despite being bound to crutches due to his broken leg) he would try and do the odd jobs he could manage whilst Dom was at work. Dom practically lived at Lofty’s flat, so the curly headed nurse found it quite natural for Dom to come in late after work, Digby would wake up and excitedly greet his second owner with kisses before Dom would join Lofty on the couch; the pair would cuddle lovingly (Lofty as the big spoon due to his cast and the fact Dom always wanted to be the little spoon) as films would play on the Tv screen. Once a week Carole (Dom’s mum) would come to Lofty’s flat to gives him a week’s worth of food, Lofty hadn’t asked her to but he greatly appreciated her kindness and delicious cooking.

 

As much as there were happy time during Lofty’s time off, there was a fair share of sadness too. Of course, Dom had a few nightmares, the sight of watching the man he loved be struck down by a car was a lot to try and handle; but Lofty was prone to very vivid and very realistic night terrors which would almost always have him wake up screaming in fear. On one particular night Lofty’s night terror was worse than usual: he dreamt he woke up in the middle of the night unable to move from the bed, like he’d been glued down, the distant sound of monitors and other medical devices would be heard and they were slowly getting louder to the point where it was almost deafening. Lofty’s heart palpated as his lungs tried to steal more oxygen, nurses and medics rushed into the bedroom (all holding shiny sharp scalpels and surgery equipment) and Lofty noticed one of them was carting in a defibrillator. 

 

“No.” Muttered Lofty, he began repeating it over and over as the defibrillator was brought closer and closer to his bedside, as it got closer he got louder in his plea. Because he was speaking in his night terror he was also speaking aloud as he slept, waking up Dom in the process. Dom had been there for Lofty’s night terrors before, he hated that Lofty had to endure them but knew it was just something they’d have to overcome together.

 

“Lofty, it’s alright-” Began Dom, but his words were cut of as Lofty bolted up in bed screaming.

 

“Love, love, it’s fine it was just a bad dream.” Comforted Dom and he slowly and gently held Lofty, as Lofty felt Dom’s hug his body relaxed and his breathing grew less haggard and panicked, but it didn’t stop the tears.

 

“T-they had a defibrillator, they were going to shock me Dom…” Choked out Lofty, his tears making him stutter with emotion.

 

“It’s alright Lofty, I’m here, it’s going to he fine.”

 

“I was so scared Dom. It was so  _ real _ .”

 

“There’s no need to be anymore, you’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

 

“Why was it so real?”

 

“It’s apart of the trauma, the same thing happened to me after Issac. It’s okay to not be okay, what you went through was scary. C’mon, let’s go back to sleep?”

 

Lofty had a look of unease on his face before responding, “What if it happens again Dom?”

 

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. I promise.”

 

It took a while for Lofty to respond but he eventually did, “Okay…”

 

Lofty cuddled into Dom, burying his face into his chest. Because he was sleeping on his side, Dom could only wrap his free arm around Lofty, but for Lofty it was enough. He eventually fell back to sleep, and just as Dom promised, didn’t have anymore night terrors or nightmares that night. After realising this the next morning, he smiled and pulled himself closer into Dom. Dom woke up not long after and was very happy to have Lofty buried into his chest, he watched the steady rise and fall of Lofty’s breathing before he spoke.

 

“Good morning Lofty.” He said with a smile.

 

“It is with you here.” Replied Lofty, “Good morning to you too.”

 

“Have anymore bad dreams or terrors?”

 

“Not a single one!” Replied Lofty with a boyish smile.

 

“That’s great.” Responded Dom, he was ecstatic to know he’d been able to keep his promise, “What do you want for breakfast?”

 

“You?” Asked Lofty playfully, but he soon grew embarrassed by his own words, “Haha, only joking, toast would be nice.”

 

“Toast it is then!” Exclaimed Dom. Lofty us fallen asleep in his embrace, so have Lofty a kiss on the forehead before teasingly saying, “Only because I’m the main course.”

 

After another eight long weeks of waiting, Lofty was phoned by Mr. Hanssen to come back to work.

 

Lofty was ecstatic, he’d been bored out of his mind at home (especially since he wasn’t able to walk Digby is his excessive free time), so knowing he would return to work made his heart sing with joy and relief. As soon as he finished the phone call he got to work sorting out his uniform. Dom couldn’t help but smile as he watched Lofty fumble about as he hurriedly got ready for work a whole two days early, it was adorable, so he decided he would celebrate Lofty’s return.

 

“How about take out for tea tonight?” He proposed as he started folding laundry next to Lofty in the bedroom (who was finishing up preparing his uniform for work). 

 

“Didn’t think you liked take out?”

 

“It depends on the place, I know a take out place that does amazing pizza though. Want that?”

 

“Sounds brilliant!” Agreed Lofty, he hobbled over to Dom on his crutches and started helping with the laundry folding. It was more like he was just rolling the clothes up into balls rather than neatly folding them, Dom chuckled as he watched Lofty try his best.

 

“How’d you manage without me?” He asked jokingly as he took the item of clothing from Lofty’s hands and began folding it properly.

 

“With great difficulty.” Replied Lofty, he meant it, “Can you show me how to fold my clothes Dom? Robyn used to do it for me when I lived with her and Max.”

 

“Of course I will!” 

 

Dom made his way over to Lofty and stood behind him, he took Lofty’s hands in his own and moved as if they were his. Lofty chuckled at the intimacy as he placed his crutches on the bed, allowing Dom to be his support. Using Lofty’s hands Dom picked up a shirt from the laundry basket and began his lesson in laundry:

 

“Right, so you fold the sleeves into the shirt, and then fold the short in half length ways, then fold it in half horizontally.” As he said this he showed Lofty what he was talking about, once the shirt was nearly folded Lofty nodded that he understood what to do and grabbed another shirt to do it himself. He repeated Dom’s words under his breath as he folded the shirt, and sure enough he’d done it. He proudly showed his work to Dom, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

 

“That’s it, you’ve done it!” Exclaimed Dom as he smiled happily at Lofty, he didn’t think something as mundane as folding a shirt could become fun, but then again, being with Lofty made anything seem possible. He hugged Lofty and kissed him, Lofty was slightly taken back by the kiss but he was quick to reciprocate it, it grew more passionate as time went by. Digby padded into the room and over to his two owners, he sat down in front of them and tilted his head in confusion - why wasn’t he getting attention too? He began barking happily, breaking Dom and Lofty from their kiss, Dom smiled and picked up Digby (with slight difficulty since Digy had grown quite a bit) much to the puppy’s joy, the black puppy began giving kisses to his two owners (who found it completely adorable). Lofty loving scratched behind Digby’s ears as he spoke:

 

“If I’d known you’d do that over a folded shirt, maybe I should start doing the dishes more often.” 

 

“You’d leave food on the plates love, I may as well move in with you!”

 

“Maybe you should one day, when you’re ready.” Lofty retaliated.

 

“Maybe I will.” Responded Dom, with unwavering confidence, “Might take a while.”

 

“I’ll wait for you.”


	9. Time to Stop Clowning Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom helps organise a "Conquer your Fears" day at the Hospital, but Lofty is less than prepared to face his number one fear...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original headcanon. Coffee and Confusion may or may not be on it's last few chapters, I don't want to drag it out and have people grow sick of it.

“Dom you’re doing _what_?”

 

It was a bright Thursday morning in Lofty’s flat, Dom had stayed over the night before and the pair were making breakfast together in the kitchen, the inviting smell of pancakes and fruit salad drifted through the flat like sweet perfume. The pair were already dressed for work: Dom wearing a striped shirt with black jeans and Converse and Lofty wearing his red plaid shirt with dark grey jeans and his Vans.

 

“I’m gonna organise a conquer your fears day!”

 

“What’s one of those, and why?”

 

“Miss Kamik decided we all face our fears, says we can’t do a good enough job in theatre if we have fears holding us back. She asked me to organise it.” Replied Dom through large mouthfuls of fruit salad.

 

“My fear isn’t exactly going to hinder me in theatre though.”

 

“I know it sound ridiculous, but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

 

“Yeah, you’re right there, who’s doing it?”

 

“Essie, Sacha, Raf, Fletch, me and you, Henrik, Morven and Donna.”

 

“Quite a few people then?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“When is it?”  


“This saturday, at the hospital.”

 

“Sounds good, I’ll go with you.”

 

“Fabulous!” Exclaimed Dom, going over to give Lofty a kiss on the cheek as thanks, “What time is it by the way?”

 

Lofty checked the time on his wristwatch, his eyes widened at what time it was, “Nearly time for us to leave!” He exclaimed as he finished the last of his pancakes, “Come on, you’re biking to work with me again.”

 

“Hooray…” Said Dom sarcastically as he followed Lofty out of the flat. He did enjoy the bike ride, but the weather was so hot that day he knew no matter what he wore he’d be boiling hot.

 

“I’ve said before I’ll learn to drive if you want me to, just say the word and I’ll start lessons.”

 

“And pollute the earth? No thanks. Besides, if you drive me to work I have no reason to hold on to you during the journey.”

 

Lofty let out a laugh at Dom’s words, “Okay, come on, or Sacha’ll have words with us in his office again!”

 

The journey to work was as lovely as usual; the scenic route was stunning and Dom couldn’t help but smile as they passed through the park. They chatted on their way to the hospital, Lofty laughing away as his terrible dad jokes and Dom sighing - unable to help but find them funny too. The Registrar wrapped his arms tightly around Lofty’s waist, much to Lofty’s delight but neither blushed at the intimacy, they were so comfortable with one another it felt like second nature. Upon arrival at the hospital they were cheerfully greeted by Sacha and Essie:

 

“Good morning you two!” Exclaimed Sacha.

 

“Morning guys!” Greeted Essie

 

“Hiya, you ready for this Saturday?” Asked Dom.

 

“Not really…” Said Sacha, a look of worry across his face.

 

“Me neither if we’re confronting our fears.” Added Essie.

 

“What are you both scared of?” Asked Lofty, curious.

 

“Spiders.” Said Essie, shivering at the word.

 

“Birds. What about you two?” Said Sacha, grimacing.

 

“I, I um…. I don’t like needles, or anything that can sting me - wasps and bees and all that.” Replied Dom, it took him a while to think of his fear.

 

“How ironic, a doctor with a fear of needles, what about you Lofty?”

 

“It’s embarrassing. I don’t want to say.” Muttered Lofty, hesitant to reveal his fear.

 

“Nah, you have to tell us! We told you ours!” Responded Essie, not giving into Lofty’s loveable shyness.

 

“Come on love, it can’t be that bad?” Asked Dom, looking at Lofty with big puppy dog eyes to which Loty immediately caved into.

 

“Promise me you won’t laugh?”  


“I promise.”

 

“I… I have a fear of clowns.”  


“Clowns? Why? It’s just guys with face paint.” Asked Essie.

 

“That’s exactly why! That big fake plastered smile, the big shoes, that creepy laugh they have… Plus there was a clown that got really angry with me.”

 

“Angry?”

 

“It was my friends birthday party, I was eight, there was a clown there juggling. I asked if I could try but he said no, being the child I was I decided to ‘borrow’ his juggling stuff and try, but one of them went over the neighbours fence and the clown got really angry - he screamed right in my face.”

 

“Aww, bless your heart.” Said Dom as he went over to comfort Lofty (who looked pale at the mere mention of his face painted fear)

 

“I did talk to a clown, whilst I was on E.D, but only after he took his makeup off - he wasn’t too bad out of costume.”

 

“Still scared of them?” Asked Essie.

 

“Petrified.” Answered Lofty with a faint smile, clearly embarrassed at himself.

 

“Maybe we can change that?”

 

“Do… Do we have to?” Pleaded Lofty.

 

“It’s a face your fears day for a reason! I’ll book a clown for the event.”

 

The rest of Thursday and the whole of Friday, Lofty was glittery and jumpy and nervous; his nerves meant he became more accident prone than usual (dropping packages, knocking into to people, forgetting to collect supplies from storage). Dom couldn’t help but feel his heart bleed for Lofty, the last thing he wanted to do was traumatise him, but the idea that confronting a clown to help Lofty’s fear gave him the will to hire a clown for the event. At the end of their shift on Friday Dom, Essie, Sacha and Lofty all headed down to the pub: they had a few good drinks and chatted and laughed and they all talked about having to confront their fears.

 

“Dom how are you confronting your fear?” Asked Sacha as he finished his beer.

 

“First thing in the morning, you can all be there to watch so you know I actually did it, I’m going to have some blood drawn - I’ll donate it to a blood bank.”

 

“Aw, that’s good! What about Sacha’s bird fear?” Asked Essie.

 

“I contacted a previous patient here - Vince. He goes bird watching and owns some birds himself, he said he’d gladly bring them to the event free of charge.”

 

“Free of charge? how’d you manage that?”

 

“Me and Lofty saved his marriage.”

 

“Fair enough.” Said Sach, taking a swig of his beer.

 

“Also, Essie, I've got an animal handler in bringing in a tarantula for you.”

 

“I don’t want to hear it!” Exclaimed Essie Easier as she poured herself a big glass of red wine before taking a large gulp.

 

“Is Jac Naylor doing it?”

 

“Ice Queen? As if, she fears nothing! Oh, by the way Lofty a clown is booked for an hour during the event.”

 

“Do I have to be around him for an hour?”

 

“I thought it might take a while for you to get anywhere near him, so I booked him for an hour, it’s alright if you can’t stay with him very long.”

 

“Alright… Will you be there with me?”

 

“Of course I will.” Replied Dom as he took Lofty’s hands and squeezed it. Lofty squeezed back and smiled at Dom and his support.

 

“Of course I’ll be there for when you get your blood drawn.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

At the end of their pub session they all got out of their chairs and grabbed their jackets. Essie and Sacha promptly headed out after giving their goodbyes whilst Lofty and Dom stayed behind. Dom gave Lofty a kiss on the cheek before going to leave as well, but Lofty quickly stopped him:

 

“Dom, I um, would you stay at my place tonight? I didn’t sleep very well last night, and I would rather not have another clown induced nightmare alone in my flat.”

 

“Of course, though I’m going to have to borrow your pajamas.”

 

“You said the same thing about my hoodie.”

 

“I’m long term borrowing that.”

 

“Right.” Replied Lofty, chuckling as he and Dom left the pub together.

 

Dom and Lofty spent the short walk back to Lofty’s flat hand in hand and in please silence, both knew there didn’t have to be a conversation - they were too comfortable with each other to think there had to be one. They took in the pitch black night sky, a chill was embracing the air as clouds of condensation came from the pair's breathing, they both couldn’t help but remark how they felt like dragons. Christmas was arriving. Just as they got to Lofty’s front door an idea entered Dom’s mind:

 

“Wait, Lofty does your Tv have Netflix?”

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

“I’m going to give you a head start for tomorrow!” Exclaimed Dom as Lofty opened the door with his flat key, the pair walked inside and Dom immediately went to turn on the Tv.

 

“Dom, love, it’s really late…”

 

“So a movie would be perfect to nod us off to sleep!”

 

“If I have the right idea of what you have planned I’m not going to be able to sleep.”

 

“It’s the old ‘It’ movie with Tim Curry, it’s in no way scary. Have you seen it?”

 

“No.”

 

“You’re about to.”

 

“Ah, Dom I don’t know…”

 

“We can cuddle whilst we watch it, you can just hide behind me when you need to.”

 

“So the whole film?”

 

“It’s actually like a two parter, but let’s just watch the first one for now. I won’t force you to if you really don’t want to.”

 

“Nah it’s fine… Let’s watch it, I need to get over this somehow. Besides, it’s just a film, it can’t be that scary, right?”

 

“Exactly!”

 

How very wrong Lofty was.

 

As much as the film wasn’t scary for Dom, Lofty was terrified: the overemphasized features of Pennywise’s face paint, his loudly coloured costume, his sharp teeth when he ate children, even the way he spoke had Lofty hiding behind Dom for the majority of the movie. What’s seen as a mostly laughable film to others was truly scary to Lofty. Dom could feel Lofty bury his face into his back whenever the music that foretold Pennywise’s arrival on screen came sounded; the balloon scene in the Library was especially scary for Lofty - the idea that a clown could be exploding blood filled balloons in his face without him noticing just made him paranoid. He also hated the balloon in the sink scene with Beverly for similar reasons (except for the fact he’d be able to see the balloons). By the time the credits rolled Lofty was as white as a sheet of paper.

 

“Aw, Lofty, it’s just a film - are you okay?”

 

“I can’t even handle an on screen clown. What am I going to do tomorrow?”

 

“You’re going to do your best, and I’ll be right there next to you.”

 

After the film they promptly went to sleep, once they were under the covers Lofty went back to cuddling into Dom before falling asleep, Dom was almost looking forward to the next day - but he couldn’t help but worry slightly for Lofty. On Saturday morning Dom and Lofty woke up on time, but that didn’t stop Lofty from trying to slow them down when getting ready: purposefully his socks on the balcony, last minute deciding to wash his hair, repeatedly changing outfit and taking well over the normal amount of time to eat a bowl of cereal. By the end of it Dom had to practically drag Lofty out of the flat. To save time Dom had ordered a taxi to the hospital, when the pair got in the vehicle and Dom gave the destination they were soon on their way, but Lofty couldn’t help but fidget with nerves the whole way over.

 

“Lofty, are you sure you want to do this? I only got you out your flat because you wanted to overcome this, I’m sorry if I’m pushing you too far.”  


“It’s fine, you don’t like needles and you’re still going through with it. As long as I tell myself it’s just a man in makeup it’ll be fine.”

 

“Alright. You better hold my hand when I get that needle put in.”  


“I already hold your hand loads anyway.”  


“I just hope I don’t break yours in the process.” Joked Dom.

 

“Yeah, I definitely don’t need anymore broken bones.” Said Lofty with a chuckle.

 

“That’s definitely true. How’s your leg?”

 

“Practically as good as new! It hurts from time to time but that’s normal.”

 

“I am sorry about that Lofty.”  


“I know you are, but you don’t need to apologise anymore. We’ve sorted it and we still love each other, there’s no need to dwell on what happened.”

 

The pair felt the car lurch to a halt as the driver asked them for the money they owed. Lofty felt the colour drain from his cheeks as he realised how close he was to meeting a clown. Dom helped him out of the cab before relieving him of some of his worries:

 

“I need to get my blood drawn first, you’ve got a while yet.”

 

“Brilliant- I mean, come on, let’s go for your needle.”

 

Dom and Lofty promptly headed up to the Keller Ward, the nurse from the blood bank would be there waiting for them. When they arrived at her makeshift station, Dom promptly sat down, made himself comfortable and waited patiently for the nurse to poke him with the needle. When she did he looked completely calm.

 

“You seem pretty okay for someone who doesn’t like needles.” Commented Lofty as he sat himself down next to Dom.

 

“Oh, um, yeah, I guess I haven’t really thought much of it.” Said Dom, he looked flustered at Lofty’s words. Normally Lofty didn’t notice the obvious, but this time he wasn’t so blind to it:

 

“Dom… You’re not really scared of needles are you.”

 

“Me? Pft, bloody terrified-”

 

“Dom…”

 

“Oh alright. I pretended to be scared of needles so you didn’t feel left out. As soon as I brought it up that morning I knew you had something you were scared of  - I just didn’t want you to feel alone about it.”

 

“Well aren’t you romantic?” Asked Lofty, smiling as he took Dom’s hand and held it.

 

It took a little under an hour for Dom’s blood to be transferred to the blood bag that was on the drip stand. Dom got up from his chair, thanked the nurse (who then thanked him back) and walked out of the Keller ward with Lofty.

 

“Want to get something to eat?” Proposed Lofty.

 

“Trying to hold off the clown?”

 

“Ah, maybe a little, but you’ve just had blood taken out of your body you should really eat something.”

 

“Alright. But as soon as I’ve eaten we’re going to the gardens - everyone will be waiting for us, it’ll be starting soon.”

 

Dom convinced Lofty to take him to the little shop inside the hospital, he’d be able to buy a premade sandwich there and go get his coffee from Pulses (which was literally only a few steps away from the little shop). It’d save time, luckily for Dom and unluckily for Lofty who wanted to do literally anything other than see the clown. After Dom’s lunch and coffee the time had come for Lofty to face his fear, Dom took him by the hand and led him to the hospital gardens where the event was taking place: Essie and Sacha and everyone else who said they’d come was there, even Henrik was there to see everyone face their fears.

 

“Dom! Lofty! We were wondering when you two were going to show up.” Exclaimed Essie and she made her way over, “Looking a bit pale there Dom you okay?”

 

“I had my blood drawn this morning, for the needle thing. Though a bit in vain, excuse the pun, Lofty figured out I don’t actually have a fear of needles.”

 

“Still, at least your blood went to a good cause.”

 

Sacha joined in the conversation, “Speaking of pale, Lofty are you alright?”

 

But Lofty didn’t respond, he was too busy staring at the clown on the other side of the gardens: he had big red shoes on, a crazy orange wig and a puffy and brightly coloured costume, the clown had a laugh that sent a shiver down Lofty’s spine as he stayed rooted in place out of fear.

 

“I had him watch Stephen King’s It last night. The original.” Murmured Dom to Sacha

 

“Did it help?” Asked Sacha.

 

“Not at all.” Replied Dom, he then snapped Lofty out of his petrified state, “Lofty love, we’re going to see Essie hold the spider, and have Sacha meet Vince’s birds before you meet the clown.”

 

“O-o-okay.” Replied Lofty, trembling slightly.

 

“Do you need to sit down?” Asked Dom, he was quite concerned, he didn’t think Lofty would have such a bad reaction to the clown.

 

“No, l-let’s go…” Responded Lofty, walking away in the direction of the animal handler (who was handling the spider Essie was due to hold). Essie didn’t go quite as pale as Lofty had with the clown, but the sight of the huge hairy spider had certainly frightened her, the handler eventually passed her the spider so she could hold it: she screamed and squirmed at first but eventually grew more accustomed to the eight legged arthropod, but that didn’t stop her from complaining the whole time.

 

“It’s hairy, why is it hairy, oh my God this is _disgusting_ , Dom how long do I have to hold this for?”

 

“As long as you can.”

 

“So I can give it back now?”

 

“Well yeah, but have you really conquered your fear by doing so?”

 

“My fear of spiders isn’t going to stop over holding one tarantula.”  


“Yes but it’s a start.”

 

Essie gave in to Dom’s words, she didn’t want to look weak by giving up so soon, so she held it for a while long - eight whole minutes. Dom and Sacha and Lofty were pleasantly surprised by Essie will to continue holding the spider, when the animal handler took the spider back Essie had a tinge of green in her cheeks.

 

“Are you alright Essie?” Asked Dom.

 

“I just need to sit down, I’ll be alright. Sacha you’re up next!”

 

“If Essie can do it I certainly can!” Exclaimed Sacha, trying to hype himself up for meeting the feathery foes he feared. Essie stayed behind on one of the benches whilst the other three made their way over to Vince who had three beautiful birds with him: a Tawny Owl, a Parrot and a Sparrow. Sacha was tentative about going up to any of them, but eventually plucked up the courage to stroke the small sparrow that Vince had sitting on his finger. He gave a smile as he grew accustomed to the bird, and even held it by himself (with the help of a thick bird handling glove to protect his hand), however this changed quickly when the sparrow relieved itself on Sacha’s shoe; he was fast to run away and not come back (his fear not having been conquered).

 

“Well he did alright, I thought he would’ve ran away sooner.” Said Dom, struck dumb with laughter by Sacha’s fleeing.

 

“Oh I’m never going to let him live that down!” Exclaimed Essie, laughing hysterically as she came back over to rejoin the conversation - she had seen Sacha’s “Bird Handling” and found it too hysterical.

 

Dom checked the time on his watch, they still have a little over half an hour with the clown, which would be more than enough time for Lofty. He highly suspected he’d have to lead Lofty away back inside the hospital to calm down before long (since even looking at the circus clown had petrified him), “Lofty, it’s time to meet Bubbles.”

 

“Of course his name is Bubbles… Okay, let’s do this then.” Muttered Lofty as he followed behind Dom as they made their way over to the clown. The clown seemed to be able to sense Lofty’s arrival since he quickly spun around to face him, making the already cautious nurse jump and hide behind Dom for safety. The Registrar could feel Lofty pull at his shirt, his own way of silently begging for them to leave the clown and not come back, but Dom wasn’t ready for Lofty to go down without a fight.

 

“Bubbles, this is Lofty,” Greeted Dom, indicating to his boyfriend (who was now mortified the clown knew his name, since it made it a bigger possibility for the clown to hunt him down), “He’d not too great with clowns so if you would go easy on him that’d be great.”

 

Bubbles didn’t speak (he was one of those silent mime clowns), he just nodded enthusiastically as he honked his loud horn, but the action only made Lofty shrink further behind Dom - he honestly looked like a small child at that point, and he felt like one too, much to his own embarrassment. Dom had to pull him out from behind him just so the pair would make eye contact.

 

“Lofty it’s alright. Remember, it’s a man in makeup, nothing and nobody is going to hurt you, right Bubbles?”

 

Again Bubbles nodded in agreement at Dom’s words, Lofty still hide behind Dom (gripping the back of the Registrar’s jacket like a safety blanket) and was shaking uncontrollably, but the nurse did attempt to smile at the clown. For the next few minutes Dom eased the tension of the situation by talking normally to Lofty as the clown, the normal conversation Dom was trying to make made Lofty feel slightly more at ease and Dom would feel the grip on his jacket loosen as the minutes went by. In the distance Essie and Sacha (who eventually came back outside with Essie’s coaxing) watched the trio of the two medics and the clown:

 

“Bless him, he looks terrified.” Commented Essie.

 

“He looks like a little kid.”

 

“He certainly does with him hiding behind Dom.”

 

“He seems to have it worse than us when it comes to fears.”

 

“Yeah… The spider wasn’t too bad.”

 

“Neither was the bird till it pooped on my shoe.”

 

“He can’t even go near the clown, let alone touch him.”

 

Fifteen more minutes went by before Lofty decided he was ready to get closer to the clown, at this point he’d let go off Dom’s jacket and stood next to him rather than behind him, but he kept close just incase. Remembering how well Essie and Sacha had done, Lofty didn’t want to be the odd one out and decided to go for it:

 

“I think I’m ready.”

 

“Really?” Asked Dom, hopeful.

 

“Yeah, if Essie can hold a tarantula I’m sure I can shake hands with a clown.”  


Bubbles gave a look of excitement as Lofty stepped forward to greet him properly for the first time since their 20 minutes of being around each other: “H-hello.”

 

Being the silent clown he was Bubbles couldn’t respond with words, but instead he offered his hand for Lofty to shake. Despite saying he was ready Lofty hadn’t quite prepared himself yet, but he reminded himself he’d just have to go for it if he ever wanted to overcome his fear. Lofty shakily gave his hand for the clown to shake, when their hands met Lofty smiled in relief at the very human and normal hand that was hidden by Bubble’s white gloves; Dom grinned from ear to ear at the progress Lofty was making (even if he still looked slightly pale from the encounter). After they shook hands an alarm on Bubbles’ wristwatch went off - signalling the hour Dom had arranged for him to be there for was over, Dom understood this and sighed with disappointment.

 

“Just when you were getting somewhere!”

 

“No, no it’s fine, it’s really alright. Bubbles has places to be, don’t you Bubbles?” Bubbles nodded enthusiastically at Lofty’s question, and Lofty smiled back, “See Dom? It’s alright he has to go, he is a clown after all, it’s his job.”  


“Alright, thank you Bubbles, there’s the toilets in the building if you need to take off your makeup-”

 

“A clown never removes his makeup in public.” Cut in Lofty.

 

“What?” Asked Dom, he laughed slightly at Lofty’s comment but he was completely dumbfounded.

 

“It’s like a clown law, they can’t remove their makeup in public.”

 

Bubbles smiled and gave a thumbs up at Lofty, signalling he was correct with what he was saying, “Lofty how do you know that?” Asked Dom, smiling with confusion at the clown fearing Nurse’s knowledge of clowns.  


“Long story.”

 

“Well you should have enough time to tell me this story whilst we’re at Albie’s?”

 

“Definitely. Plus, it’s our day off.”

 

“Very true, more than enough time for a few drinks.”

 

“Did someone say a few drinks?” Asked Essie as she made her way over with Sacha and joined in the conversation; her hearing seemingly became very accurate whenever the offer for drinks was mentioned.

 

“I could go for one or two.” Said Sacha, signalling he was all for getting drunk that day.

 

“Shall we get ourselves over there? The event’s nearly over, Miss Kamik said she’d sort out the rest of it for me.”

 

“That’s good, let’s go then!” Exclaimed Essie, she and Sacha began to walk ahead of Dom and Lofty, both eagre for booze.

 

Lofty began to follow behind them but Dom quickly held him back, which confused Lofty, “Everything okay?”

 

“I just wanted to say I’m really proud of you for doing what you just did.” Smiled Dom, he intertwined his fingers with Lofty’s, who squeezed Dom’s hand gently.

 

“Thank you, I’m pretty proud of me too.” Replied Lofty, he went in to give Dom a kiss and Dom was happy to oblige. The pair gave each other a quick peck on the lips before catching up with Essie and Sacha; it’d been a very good day indeed and Lofty was in a very good mood (a stark contrast to how he’d been at the beginning of the morning). As the pair walked over to Albie’s hand in hand they smiled endearingly at each other, completely love-struck by each other’s presence. Both had their own fears, and it was possible those fears would never completely go, but they both knew they’d never have to fear losing each other - there was no chance of that happening.


	10. Family Fued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lofty's parents call and say they want to see him, and his partner (who they pressume to be a girl). What'll happen when Dom shows up with Lofty instead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to AMYGIRL90 for the prompt!

"Lofty love where’s Sacha?” Called Dom from bed 3, the patient sat in the bed was patiently awaiting surgery, and Sacha was nowhere to he found.  
  
“He’s talking to Hanssen in his office. Want me to call him?”  
  
“Please. We’re scheduled for twelve thirty and it’s already quarter past.”  
  
“Shall do.” Replied Lofty with a smile as he made his way over to the main desk to phone Henrik’s office, after dialing the number he held the receiver up to his eat and waited for a reply, “Oh, hello, is this Mr Hanssen's office? This is Mr Hanssen speaking? This is Nurse Chiltern from the Keller ward, Mr Levy is needed for surgery soon so if you’re still with him we’re going to need him back here as soon as possible. Thank you.”  
  
“What’d he say?” Asked Dom.  
  
“He’s on his way now!”  
  
“Great, thanks Lofty.”  
  
“No problem!”  
  
As their conversation came to a close, Dom’s  
patient collapsed suddenly, but the clever Registrar was quick to leap to action and handle the situation as it progressed:  
  
“He’s collapsed, let’s get him into theatre now  
before he ends up needing resuscitation. Essie, you’re helping with his transplant, come with me.”  
  
“Sure thing.” Exclaimed Essie as she jumped out from behind the desk and joined Dom and the patient on the journey to theatre, “Should I go tell Sacha we need him now?”  
  
“Don’t worry Essie I'll go track him down, let him know, Dom can handle surgery whilst I find him.” Offered Lofty.  
  
“You’re a star Lofty, thanks.” Thanked Essie, relieved she had one less job to think about. Dom mimed a quick ‘Thank you’ before he disappeared behind the double doors for the impending surgery. Lofty was quick to find Sacha (since he was already on his way down from Henrik’s office) but it took some running and navigating till they eventually crossed paths. Once Lofty managed to say what had happened Sacha thanked him immensely before dashing off in the direction of the theatre. Lofty took his time getting back to the Keller Ward, he’d lost his break to having to find an elderly gentleman who’d wandered from the ward, so he saw little issue with taking his time getting back to Keller. He rubbed the engraved jigsaw piece on his bracelet (the one Dom had given him) and silently hoped the surgery would go well; it always seemed to work when he did it. When he arrived back on Keller he lazily sat himself down in one of the office chairs, he sighed tiredly from his already long shift and hoped for the hour when he would clock off to arrive soon. As he began to relax in the chair he let out a sigh, but this pleasant break (the first one he’d received since his long shift began) was cut short with the loud shrill of the phone ringing.  
  
“Keller Ward of Holby City Hospital you’re speaking to Nurse Chiltern, how can I help-” But Lofty words were cut off by the loud and familiar voice that sounded from the other end of the line. His face fell as he recognised the voice - Where was Dom when he needed him?  
  
\---[AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL SURGERY]---  
  
Dom appeared proudly back into the Keller ward, he’d been able to control the patient’s bleed and even make a start on fixing the problem before Sacha had scrubbed in, the loud shirted mentor was very impressed to find out the worst of it had been fixed by his favourite Registrar. When Lofty saw him arrive with a big smile on his face, he smiled too - glad to see the surgery went very well. But the memory of the phone call he’d received resurfaced in his mind, he felt the colour fade from his cheeks at the thought of it. Dom was fast to notice this and his smile turned into a look of concern:

“Lofty, do you need to go lie down?”  
  
“Hm? Oh, no, I'll be fine. I just remembered a phone call.”  
  
“Phone call?”  
  
“After I found Sacha the desk phone rang, I picked it up and recognised who it was.”  
  
“Who was it?”  
  
“It was… My dad.”  
  
“What’s wrong with your dad?”  
  
“I wasn’t exactly what you’d call a model son. I had a habit of borrowing money from them for partying.”  
  
“We've all done that, I know I owe my mum a few quid-”  
  
“He kicked me out for it.”  
  
“W-what?”  
  
“He got fed up, kicked me out and left me with nowhere to go. Granted I stayed with some friends for the first few nights, but I felt guilty about it so I lied about having a hotel room.”  
  
“And where did you stay?”  
  
“The park bench.”  
  
“Lofty you can’t be serious, your dad made you homeless and you slept on a park bench?”  
  
“It wasn’t all bad since I managed to steal a key from my dad, he’s landlord, and I lived in the loft of one of his rented houses for a couple days.”  
  
“So that’s where your nickname come from?”  
  
“Yep! It’s how I met Robyn, she came back from  
work early and found me trying to do the ironing, I was getting ready for an interview at St. James’. I ended up landing a job on E.D though.”  
  
“Wait, why did your dad call?”  
  
“Said he wanted to see me, check up on me. Said he felt bad about what’d happened in our past.”  
  
“Oh well that’s good of him…”  
  
“Dom, I know he doesn’t sound brilliant, but he’s my dad. I agreed to see him. But I have something to ask you.”  
  
“Ask away!”  
  
“Well, they don’t know we’re dating, we never  
kept contact at all after I left, but I want to tell them.”  
  
“Do they know you’re into men at least?”  
  
“Nope.”  
  
“Will they he okay with it?”  
  
“They’re going to have to be otherwise their only son is going to stop contacting them. Will you come with me when meeting them?”  
  
“Of course I will, I don’t exactly  like the sound of your dad but I’ll be polite. What’s your mum like?”  
  
“She’s nice, really good at baking, although she can’t cook proper food to save her life. She’s very clumsy.”  
  
“So you get it off her?”  
  
“Knowing my dad, yes I definitely get it off her.”  
  
“What about the curly hair?”  
  
“I don’t know. My mum has straight blond hair and my dad has straight black hair that’s always neat - at least that’s how I remember him. I think my mum said something about my grandad having loads of curly hair?”  
  
“So the mystery continues.”  
  
“Yep, it’s a nuisance, and painful to brush.”  
  
“I quite like it.”  
  
“I know you do.” Replied Lofty with a smile.  
  
“I should probably get back to work- Oh! You never told me when we’re meeting your parents.”  
  
“This Saturday, if that’s possible for you?”  
  
“So tomorrow? I’m off then, but what about Digby?”  
  
“It shouldn’t take to long, it’s just a coffee at the cafè, he’ll be fine in his room.”  
  
“Sounds like a plan!”  
  
“Fab, thank you for doing this Dom.”  
  
“My pleasure love.” Smiled Dom before getting back to work.  
  
The rest of the day was spent nicely enough, Dom and Lofty worked together on their patients, Sacha and Essie gawked at them with lovingly eyes of support: almost ten months together and they still hadn't gotten over how cute they were together. When the end of the day came Dom and Lofty were eager to relax in their favourite spot at Albie’s. They walked to the pub together and sat down in their usual seats, hand in hand of course, and soon enough they were starting their first pints.  
  
“Can’t believe you guys are still together.” Smiled Sacha, beaming.  
  
"Pardon?” Asked Dom.  
  
“Well, you've gone through a hell of a lot together in under a year, with Christmas coming up and then New Year’s, it’s great to see you’ve made it so far together.”  
  
“Woah, I guess I never really thought about it like that.” Commented Lofty.  
  
“Really?” Asked Essie.  
  
“Yeah, I kind of just went with it as the punches came, I never put it into perspective like that.”  
  
“Me neither, not really, it’s like Lofty said - I never put it into perspective like that.”  
  
“We’ve certainly been on a rollercoaster ride.” Commented Lofty.  
  
“Indeed we have.” Agreed Dom.  
  
“It’s been pretty smooth sailing for a while now. Let's just hope it stays that way."

“You just jinxed it silly.” Smiled Dom as Lofty cursed himself for having jinxed himself and Dom accidentally, “Come on then love, we’re meeting them tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep.”  
  
“Going so soon?” Asked Sacha.  
  
“Yeah, busy day tomorrow. Besides Dom, I think you already look great.”  
  
“Well I need them to think I look good too.”  
  
“They should love you.”  
  
“Besides the possible dislike for me being a man.”  
  
“Maybe they’ll react well.” Offered Lofty.  
  
“Woah woah woah sweet child of mine, are you saying your parents don't know about you and Dom dating?” Asked Essie, she and Sacha were already aware of the meeting taking place the next day.  
  
“I told them I was seeing someone and before I could explain Dom’s a guy, dad arranged a meet up time and promptly hung up.”  
  
“He doesn’t sound very nice if you don't mind me saying.”  
  
“Last time I checked your not wrong.” Confirmed Lofty sadly.  
  
“Hmm?” Voiced Essie, curious as to what happened for Lofty to realise something so harsh about his own dad.  
  
“It’s a long story I don’t want to get into.”  
  
“Fair enough. Well, see you guys, good luck with tomorrow.” Smiled Essie.  
  
“Ditto.” Smirked Sacha as he finished off his glass.  
  
That night Dom went to Lofty’s flat, with them both having the day off, it seemed best to just stay over (much to Lofty's delight). When they arrived at the flat Lofty was quick to put the kettle on and make Dom a cup of coffee, when they eventually got into bed the pair talked happily:  
  
“I’m excited for tomorrow. Nervous, but excited.”  
  
“They should love you, not as much as I do, but love all the same.”  
  
“Should I get anything or talk about anything to get in their good books?”  
  
“Mum likes travelling, and candles, and baking. Dad likes… I, um, wow I can’t actually think of anything. He likes my mum, that’s about it.”  
  
“Genuinely?”  
  
“He’s not the ‘life enjoying’ type really, just be yourself and he’s bound to like you, how could he not?”  
  
“Oh I dunno, maybe the fact he’s going to find out that his only son, that he’s believed to be straight all these years, has been dating a man for almost a year.”  
  
“And I told you, if he doesn’t accept it then he’s out if my life.”  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay with that? Just  
cutting him out, I've done it before and it’s not the best feeling.”  
  
“If he doesn’t accept you then he doesn’t accept me. There’s no way I’m gonna let him try to spoil what we have.”  
  
“What about your mum?”  
  
“She’s always said she loves no matter who I am, she should be fine with it. Plus her favourite singer turned out to be gay.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“George Michael, had a huge crush on him, found out he was gay eventually. First thing she did was buy a ticket to his next gig and hold up a banner saying “Gay George is great” the whole time.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“To this day she blares his albums from the car and sings along. She was devastated when he passed away.”  
  
“She sounds lovely.”  
  
“I think you’ll like her.”  
  
“Let’s just hope they feel the same about me.”  
  
“I’m positive they will, and if they don’t then it’s their loss.”  
  
“Goodnight love.” Said Dom as he yawned tiredly.  
  
“Goodnight Dom.” Smiled Lofty. The pair then snuggled into each other under the warm bedsheets and we're soon asleep; as much as Dom wanted to make a good impression, Lofty’s words had ensured he wouldn’t lose sleep about it.  
  
The next morning they awoke bright and early, which for them on a day off was actually around midday. They were due to meet Lofty’s parents at 3pm that afternoon, so when they woke up just before twelve they were pleased to know they had quite a bit of time to get ready. The pair lazily got out of bed and Lofty set to work making Dom a coffee and each of their breakfasts. After eating they began getting ready: needing to wash and dry his hair as soon as possible Lofty got in the shower first, belting out a few tunes as he got washed (Dom joining in on one or two of them), as soon as he hopped out Dom hopped in; scrubbing his hair and making sure he smelled as nice and squeaky clean as possible. When Dom finished in the shower he brushed his teeth and joined Lofty in the bedroom, the young nurse was already blow drying his hair as quickly as he could, when he was finished he passed the blowdryer to Dom (who then began to his hair with masterful precision) and began getting dressed. The curly headed nurse decided to go with a black plaid shirt with blue jeans and his desert boots, his jacket would suffice with the chilly but calm weather outside. Dom, once finished styling his hair, got dressed with the makeshift wardrobe of clothes he’d left at Lofty’s flat countless visits ago: his favourite stripey jumper with black skinny jeans and converse, paired with his leather jacket for good measure. Lofty put on a few dabs of cologne and was good to go whenever Dom was, and it didn’t take long for the registrar to finish getting ready after Lofty had. It was only 1pm by the time they were ready, so the pair decided to head down into town where the cafè was and spend some time together, they called a cab and were soon on their way. When sat in the taxi, Dom felt his nerves get the better of him.  
  
“I’m starting to feel nervous now.” He admitted.  
  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll all be fine.”  
  
“We haven’t had chance to go out together with work, it’s nice we can do this.”  
  
“It is, with Christmas coming soon I’ll have to start think of ideas.”  
  
“Me too come to think of it. I plan on blowing you away with my presents.”  
  
“I look forward to it, but don’t over spend on me.”  
  
“You say that but you’re more likely to buy something super expensive.”  
  
“No, I’m not exactly rich.”  
  
“I know that, but if you thought it was for a good cause you’d still do it.”  
  
“Alright fair enough you have a point. What do you want to do when we’re in town?”  
  
“I want to look in a pet shop, to get Digby a present for Christmas. And just some window shopping.”  
  
“The pet shop is closer to the cafè, if we do the window shopping first we can take a look in the pet shop on the way over to see mum and dad.”  
  
“Sounds like a plan!”  
  
Once out of the taxi, Dom and Lofty made the short walk down to the main shops, and Lofty was soon to realise just how much Dom loved window shopping. Every fashion window they passed Dom would want to take a look inside, which was no problem for Lofty (he loved seeing Dom having a good time), every Starbucks they went by Dom would stop to take in the rich smells of caramel and coffee and sugar, even at pet shops he would stop to squeal in delight at the puppies in the windows (he was particularly taken with a British Bulldog puppy he’d found asleep). But eventually Lofty would have to call Dom away from the shops to continue their impromptu date, as the clock ticked closer to 3pm Dom and Lofty began walking over to the cafè they’s arranged to meet at, at this point Lofty had begun to act nervous.  
  
“I thought you said to not be nervous?” Said Dom, squeezing Lofty’s hand as moral support as he said so.  
  
“You don’t need to be. But I haven't seen them  
in years, it’s nerve wracking to be honest. What if they look nothing like they used to?”  
  
“I’m sure, like you said, it’ll all work itself out. Don’t worry so much. I’m sure they'll be thrilled to see you!”  
  
“Let’s hope so love.” Replied Lofty, still unsure about how welcoming his parents will be.  
  
They arrived at the cafè bang on time, entering the building tentatively, Lofty was the first to see his parents sat there (already anticipating Lofty’s arrival). He was almost shocked to see they hadn't changed at all: mum still had her fine blonde hair cut in the same style, she still wore the same style of clothing, even the relaxed face she made was a carbon copy of the one he grew up with. His dad still his a clean shaven face, neat and styled hair, the same white shirt with a red tie and blue jumper combo, the only thing that looked remotely different was his tired looking eyes. When his parents noticed his arrival, Lofty’s mum leapt out of her chair and made her way over to Lofty to great him warmly:  
  
“Benny, my Benny, how brilliant to see you again, I've missed you so much!" She had tears of joy in her eyes as she spoke, still hugging him tightly.  
  
“Mum… It’s so good to see you, I've missed you too. How are things?”  
  
“Better now I've seen you after so long, all those years… You looked quite different - you’re all grown up.” She smiled in a bittersweet manner: happy to see her son so mature looking, but disappointed in herself that she’d missed it happen. She then looked beside Lofty and saw Dom standing there, she was quick to offer him a hug too; which the Registrar happily accepted.  
  
“I don’t believe I know who you are, but it’s very good to see you.”  
  
“I’m Dom Mrs Chiltern, it’s very nice to meet you too.”  
  
“Please call me Anne, can’t abide being called ‘Mrs Chiltern’ for the life of me! Come on you two, let’s all sit and have a natter.”  
  
The pair followed Lofty’s mother back to the table, when they were sat down Lofty’s dad held out his hand: “Benjamin, it’s been a while.”  
  
“Yes it has.” Replied Lofty as he took his dad’s hand and shook it, “How have you been?”  
  
“Fine enough. Where’s this girlfriend you said you had then?” Asked his dad, he barely acknowledged Dom’s existence as he spoke, Anne noticed this and hissed at him to shake Dom’s hand - which he did so, “Don’t believe I caught your name?”  
  
“It’s Dominic, but everyone calls me Dom. Hello Mr Chiltern.”  
  
“Call him Arthur.” Insisted Anne.  
  
“Are you okay with that sir?”  
  
“If it’s easier for you then I suppose so. Unlike my wife I don’t mind formality. Anyway, back to what I was saying, where’s this girlfriend you said you had?” Asked Arthur, turning his attention to Lofty.  
  
“I never said I had a girlfriend. I said I was in a long term relationship.”  
  
“It’s the same thing, now where is she?” Asked Arthur, growing slightly agitated.  
  
Lofty took a deep breath in and out before responding, “My partner isn’t a girl and he’s sat next to me.”  
  
“He?” Repeated Arthur, struck dumb by his son’s words.  
  
“Yes. Me and Dom have been seeing each other for quite a while - almost a year.”  
  
“You’re gay?” Asked Anne, she wasn’t upset or angry, just taking an interest.  
  
“Not exactly mum, it’s slightly more complicated. The thing is, I’m attracted to men and women-”  
  
“I don’t believe it!” Exclaimed Arthur.  
  
“Arthur, calm down, Ben love, if he makes you happy that’s all that matters. Does he make you happy?” Spoke Anne, trying to keep things calm.  
  
“Very much so.”  
  
“What about grandchildren?” Asked Arthur, sounding slightly annoyed.  
  
“Arthur darling, they can adopt if they want to.” Suggested Anne, desperately trying to cling on to having a civil discussion.  
  
“You don’t like children anyway, I don’t know why you’re annoyed about not having grandkids.” Stated Lofty.  
  
“Well someone has to continue the family tree.”  
  
“And and we have to be happy. And as far as we’re both aware, children aren’t possible and not a thought in either of our heads. Dad, please, just accept that fact I’m happy with Dom.”  
  
“You've never shown signs of being like this before. Are you sure you aren’t confused?” Asked Arthur.  
  
“I’m not confused dad, I know full well I have feelings for Dom.”  
  
“Why him?” Asked Arthur, turning to Dominic and speaking to him.  
  
“A lot of reasons.” Replied Dom, unsure of where to fit himself in the argument.  
  
“Just reasons? You can’t actually think of any? Pft, how romantic.” Commented Arthur. This comment annoyed Dom quite a bit, causing him to speak in defense:  
  
“Ben is one of the best people I know, he’s clumsy and accident prone and susceptible to being gullible; but he’s sweet and kind and genuine and handsome. He has only good intentions and does nothing with malic or bad intent. He treats me like I’m this brilliant person with a brilliant personality that doesn’t involve loving gossip and coffee. I don’t know why he likes me but I know for a fact I sure as hell love him.”  
  
"After everything that's happened. The least you can do is support us." Said Lofty, trying to hide his smile as Dom's words sunk in. As he spoke he grabbed Dom's hand under the table and squeezed it. Relief and comfort washed over him when he felt Dom squeeze back.

"You mean you using our money to party all the time?"  
  
"No he's talking about how you left him homeless after kicking him out for it." Commented Dom.  
  
Dead silence.  
  
"Dom..." Murmered Lofty, "We haven't talked in years - they don't know I was homeless."  
  
"Is this true Benny? Is that why I couldn't contact you?" Asked Anne, shock apparent on her face.  
  
"Well... Yeah. I didn't have anywhere to go."  
  
"Where did you end up? How come you're not on the streets still?" Asked Anne.  
  
"I stole one of dad's house keys, stayed in one of the places he landlords."  
  
Mr Chiltern looked deep in thought, "I knew a key had gone missing-"  
  
"Be quiet Arthur. We did this to him."  
  
"We really don't need to speak about this." Offered Lofty.  
  
"My boy I'm so sorry." Stated Arthur, tears building up in his eyes.  
  
"Dad?" Asked Lofty, surprised by his dad's reaction.  
  
"I can't believe I out you put through that. I was the one who convinced your mum to kick you out. And now I ruined everything..." Arthur was full blown crying at this point, and it freaked Lofty out massively - he'd never seen his dad show so much emotion. As much as he wanted to make his dad feel bad, he couldn't handle watching him openly sob in the middle of a cafè.  
  
"You may not have ruined everything." Stated Lofty.  
  
Arthur looked up, his eyes shiny with tears, "Really?"  
  
"We could meet more often, talk things out. It'd be nice if we could do that."  
  
"I'd like that." Smiled Arthur, wiping his eyes as he called himself down.  
  
"On one condition."  
  
"Yes of course, name it."  
  
"You accept me and Dom as a couple. If you don't I won't be contacting you anymore, this is a choice I've made - Dom made no contribution to what I'm saying."  
  
Arthur say for a while, thinking, it'd be difficult to understand his only son was dating a man, but he was sure he'd be able to accept it eventually (in his own way). "It'll take time, what you said gave me a shock, but if you're happy than I can't complain."  
  
"Thank you dad, that means a lot."  
  
The rest of the visit was spent with Lofty reconnecting with his parents and Arthur and Anne getting to know Dominic better. Both were very impressed with his Registrar status at the hospital, as well as all his other achievements - it was apparent they saw him as a good man. Almost two and a half hours went by with this continual talk, neither Dom or Lofty had expected to stay for so long, but they were both having such a nice time that neither cared or noticed the time go by. When they realised how late it'd gotten (judging by the winter sky having turned dark so early), both pairs decided it was time to leave and talk another day. Anne gave Dom and Lofty two giant hugs, both of which were greatly appreciated, and have Lofty a kiss on the cheek as an added bonus; when Arthur shook Dom's hand Lofty felt warm with the knowledge his dad was trying and doing well to accept who he was. The last thing he accepted was for his strict and stern father to embrace him in an even tighter hug then that of his mother's.  
  
"I love you Benjamin..." His muffled voice muttered as he felt Lofty hug him back, "Thank you so much for giving me a second chance."  
  
"I love you too dad." Replied Lofty, and he genuinely meant it, the idea of having a relationship with his dad again sent warm chills all through his body.   
  
When they eventually parted ways Dom and Lofty walked back to the shops, a taxi waiting for it's next customer was bound to be there on a cold pre-Christmas night. Lofty was grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat, and Dom felt very happy to see him like that.  
  
"Are you ever going to tell them, you know, how you nearly died?"  
  
"That's a conversation for another day. Saying I was homeless nearly killed my mum off, and it sent my dad into... emotion. It was weird, but I think knowing how much he's missed has made him realise he needs to loosen up a bit."  
  
"I'm just relieved they like me."  
  
"They adore you Dom! Mum couldn't stop smiling whenever you spoke. I'm glad it went as well as it did."  
  
"Especially with your dad?"  
  
"Especially with my dad. I mean, he was shocked, but it seems he's prepared to accept and understand - which is all I can ask from him."  
  
"Today's been a good day."  
  
"It certainly has." Smiled Lofty.


	11. I'm Missing You Already Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> USE OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS AND SWEARING

“Really? You’re leaving?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

The last thing Dom wanted to do was leave. But every opportunity was worth taking, even if it meant he’d miss Lofty. Hanssen had called him into his office the week before, the young Registrar was very surprised to hear Henrik’s offer for him to study abroad in Sweden: Henrik’s Swedish colleague had a position in his hospital for a speciality surgeon to be taken under his wing  (in order to be shown new types of treatment and surgery). Henrik had Dom first in line to take up the offer, which Dom massively appreciated, he almost felt it was too good to be true - unfortunately he was correct.

 

It was a four month placement.

 

He then spent the remainder of his week worrying and pondering on his reply, he didn’t want to leave Lofty, but he also really needed that Sweden offer for the sake of furthering his career… When Dom had told Lofty, despite having no intention to that day, he wasn’t sure how his boyfriend would react.

 

It was a bright and cheerful Saturday when Lofty arrived to work, Dom hadn’t been able to stay over the night before so he arrived to work on his own, but knowing Dom was already at work waiting for him made it all better. When he arrived and got changed into his scrubs, he eventually found Dom sitting at the main desk, he gave him a coffee (one he’s bought from Pulses before making his way to Keller) as per usual and sat next to him at the desk. He planted the Registrar a tender kiss on the cheek before greeting him:

 

“Morning Dom!”

 

“Very good now your here, sorry I couldn’t stay over last night.”

 

“Honestly don't worry about it, your a Registrar so you're gonna be busy sometimes, I could have it worse.”

 

Dom tried to chuckle to Lofty’s words, but deep down, guilt gnawed away at the back of his brain. He felt so guilty for not telling Lofty, but what could he say? _Sorry I’m abandoning you for four months in the name of work, sorry this is a bit last minute but I've been hiding it from you for the last week!_ Nothing sounded right. Eventually Dom had to be called away from the desk and back to work, Lofty joined him in treating patients all day (which did nothing to make Dom feel less awkward about his secret), so the Registrar pushed himself to just pretend to be okay. Lofty, as much as he could be niève or gullible at times, could see Dom was acting strangely and he didn’t like it: he had to calm himself down and tell himself that it probably wasn’t his fault.

 

As the day progressed Dom became more drained from having to act and be secretive at the same time (whilst also treating his patients). Essie and Sacha knew something was up with Dom, Sacha especially since Henrik had told him about the Sweden placement, so eventually the loud shirted mentor took it upon himself to talk some words of sense and comfort into Dom. The pair of them were in the staff room, silence was shared between them as Dom stood by the kettle to make a cup of coffee; Sacha was sat at the table trying to do a wordsearch in his lunch hour. Lofty and Essie were helping in a surgery at the time, so it seemed there would be no opportunity for them to be interrupted by anyone they really knew - so Sacha took the opportunity.

 

“Dom… You’re gonna have to tell him eventually.”

 

“I haven’t confirmed that I’m going to Hanssen yet.”

 

“Even better, you can talk to Lofty about it all.”

 

“But Sacha it’s four months! I don’t want to be away from him that long. And I _know_ going to Sweden could be brilliant for my career - but I don’t want to leave him alone and sad for four whole months.”

 

“He has me and Essie. And if he were a decent boyfriend he would understand-”

 

“He is decent.” Replied Dom, slightly miffed at Sacha’s words, “He’s the sweetest partner I've had, no doubt about that. But it’s the fact he’d so understanding that worries me. What if he says he’s fine with it but deep down he isn’t?”

 

“Then he’s being a good boyfriend. By putting his own selfish wants to one side, he’s allowing your opportunities to blossom, be thankful he’s the way he is.”

 

“I am Sacha, every day. Every time he smiles at me I’m thankful. I just don’t want to say goodbye.”

 

“That’s something you have to overcome together.”

 

“Something we have to overcome _if_ I take the placement.”

 

When Lofty and Essie returned from surgery they were both upset and tired, the patient hadn’t survived surgery, and had passed away on the operating table. Lofty took it especially hard, he always did when a patient died. If there was no family there to grieve then Lofty certainly was - he managed to make bonds with every patient he treated. He grew attached, which always came back to haunt him every time he lost a patient. But he’d grown better at accepting and moving on, so Dom was relieved to see his boyfriend wasn’t as upset as he could've been. But this only made him think of how sad he’d really be when Dom were to bring up the placement: that sad expression, his eyes glossy from not wanting to cry, that grimace of pain as he felt Dom’s words hit him like a train… Already Dom was feeling guilty for words he hadn’t even said.

 

As if things couldn't get worse for Lofty he was then bullied and insulted by a patient (whilst Dom was out grabbing lab result tests): Adam Smith was incredibly young and incredibly stupid, as well as apart of a homophobic gang of pot smokers. Without even knowing a single thing about him, Adam had already judged Lofty and refused any treatment from him, but that didn’t stop the nurse from trying to help:

 

“Sir, look, you've really done some damage to yourself from that fight, you need to let me examine and help you.”

 

“I can see yer uniform mate, a _nurse_ , nurses are girls.”

 

“Bit sexist.” Commented Lofty.

 

“Are you a girl?” Sneered Adam, enjoying the jabbing insult he threw at Lofty.

 

“No I’m a man.”

 

“Hard to believe that, next thing you’ll tell me is that yer fancy men.”

 

Sick of Adam’s behaviours, Lofty retaliated with the truth as he tried to get a hold of Adam’s arm to examine it, “I am actually, currently in a relationship too, so Adam if you don’t mind I need to-”

 

“What the fuck? You’re a _fag_ and all _?”_

 

Sacha heard this as he walked past the troublesome teen’s bed, and tried control his own anger as he tried to sort things out, “Adam you dare say another word like that and I will have you sent out the hospital, broken arm or not, derogatory terms are not tolerated here.”

 

“Do you think I give a shit mate? You think I’m gonna let a freak like him treat me?”

 

“Nurse Chiltern is fully qualified.” Replied Sacha stiffly, trying to contain his building anger for Adam.

 

“Adam…” Said Lofty calmly, “Please, I want to help you, so just let me-”

 

“I said fuck off!” Yelled Adam as he leapt out the bed, he promptly fronted Lofty and shoved him hard. Unfortunately for the nurse a member of staff was wheeling a trolley past as it happened; and Lofty felt his back slam against the corner of the trolley as he fell to the floor.

 

Dom came in cheerful with his lab result tests, but that smiled was practically slapped off his face as he saw Lofty curled up on the floor writhing in agony. His expression turned to panic as security staff arrived and dragged the patient responsible out of the ward. He was quick to rush to Lofty’s aid, Sacha was already kneeling on the floor besides Lofty trying to help him as Dom spoke.

 

“What happened?”

 

“That patient, Adam Smith, had a problem with Lofty. He got aggressive verbally before lashing out. Lofty’s hit his spine on the corner of a metal trolley.”

 

“What was this all about?”

 

“You don’t need to know-”

 

“ _Tell me.”_

 

As Sacha searched for the right words he realised there were none, so decided to just tell the whole truth, “He didn’t like the fact Lofty’s interested in men. At all. Lofty dating you, a man, is what made this all physical. I tried to stop it before hand when Adam called him a- well, I tell you later. Not now.”

 

As Sacha was speaking the pair of them were lifting Lofty into the now empty bed, they had to ensure nothing was broken before proceeding with treatment. After lying him on his side on the hospital bed, Dom got to work examining Lofty’s rib cage, spine and lower back. Lofty had been pushed with considerably force, so what normally would’ve been tolerable had become agony for the Nurse to bare. Lofty forces himself to keep still as Dom checked him over, but he couldn't help but react as Dom pressed his fingers in the centre of his back (on the spine).

 

“Get me ten of morphine for the pain, nothing feels broken, but the metal framework has seriously hurt him.” Dom said to Sacha, as Sacha left to retrieve the morphine Dom spoke again, “Everything’s alright love, this is all going to be okay, we’re gonna get you morphine and it’ll be sorted. There’ll be bad bruising and possible swelling.”

 

“That’s… That was the first time…”

 

“First time what?”

 

“That I’ve been attacked just for liking men. It was weird, like it wasn’t real. But I’m guessing my pain right now is proof that that really did just happen.”

 

“I’m so sorry Lofty.”

 

“None of this-” Lofty’s words cut short as he flinched in pain, “None of this is your fault, it was that kid's. Dom he was just a kid…”

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

“Today really isn’t my day is it?” Smirked Lofty, trying to at least smile in light of all that’d went wrong that day.

 

Dom smiled, guilt ridden, as he looked at Lofty and the bruise that was already beginning to form on his spine. Dom was adamant things couldn't get worse till he received a direct page from Mr Hanssen:

 

_My Swedish contact needs your answer by the end of the day, I’m afraid I can’t give you anymore time._

 

Shit.

 

The rest of the day continued and Dom felt the hours go by like minutes, Lofty stayed in the hospital bed because of Sacha's orders for him to do so. He sat upright with an ice pack strapped to his back and as he sat there bored and unsure what to do with himself he stared at the plain ceiling - if he wasn’t working whilst at work, Lofty felt pretty useless. But Dom wished he had Lofty’s boredom, it would've meant he could think, undistracted, as he though of what to say to break the news to Lofty. That pager from Hanssen meant he’d have to tell Lofty that same day, even after what the nurse had already gone through on shift. Dom felt like he was adding salt to Lofty’s wounds.

 

Essie and Sacha tried to comfort the young Registrar as he tried to think of the right words to say; by this point Essie knew of Dom’s placement offer as well as Lofty’s obliviousness to it all, and all she wanted was a resolution that would mean a positive outcome for both Dom and Lofty - but as the hours ticked by this seemed less and less possible to her. Like all good things, Dom’s late shift eventually came to an end, and the thought of telling Lofty the truth loomed over him like a bad smell, but Dom knew he had to tell Lofty the truth - even if the idea of Lofty’s reaction terrified him.

 

Lofty was out of the hospital bed and in the staff room by this point, not wanting to waste of a hospital bed, Lofty had managed to persuade Sacha to just let him sleep off the pain in the staff on-call room. After which he’d gone to the staff changing room to get changed back into his normal clothes - his back still sore.

 

“Dom, hi.” Greeted Lofty as he saw Dom come through the door.

 

“Hi Lofty, how's your back?”

 

“The pain could be worse; I've slept off most of it.”

 

“That’s great.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

There was dead and awkward silence as neither knew what to say; Lofty could feel Dom wanted to say _something_ , even if he didn’t know what that something was he wanted Dom to feel like he could speak about it. Eventually, Dom did actually speak, but it was evident by the look of sorrow on his face he didn’t want to say it:

 

“I, um, haven’t been honest with you lately.” He began, he seemed to lose confidence because he didn’t say another word after that.

 

“Well, no matter what it is you can tell me.” Offered Lofty, hoping it would give Dom the strength to continue.

 

The Registrar took a deep breath in and out, and he looked for a long time at Lofty before talking again, “Hanssen offered me a placement.”

 

"Really? You're leaving?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

“Aw Dom that’s fantastic!” Grinned Lofty, genuinely pleased, “Where is it?”

 

“Sweden.”

 

Lofty seemed taken aback by the destination, but he tried to keep happy, “Well I’m sure everything will be fine! And you won’t be away for too long, Dom this is great I’m so happy for you-”

 

“It’s a four month placement.”

 

This really shocked Lofty, it was a long time and such a long way away, he would definitely miss Dom a lot - but he also knew he had to swallow his own wants for Dom’s sake: “Wow, it must be important then. Dom, you’d be daft not to take the offer.”

 

“What? You’re okay with me going?”

 

“I’ll miss you more than anything on this earth, of course I will, but knowing you're out there safe and doing what you love, of course I’m okay with you going.”

 

“Thank God, I didn’t know how you’d react.”

 

“Well Dom if you want to go then I’ll completely support you in your decision. Besides, we can call and text and facetime and all that - it’s not like it’s gonna stop us from talking for four months.”

 

“That’s true, thank you Lofty, I’m so lucky to have a man like you.”

 

“I’m very lucky to have you too love.” The two looked at each other for a long while, the silence no longer awkward, it was instead filled with feeling and emotion.

 

“Come here…” Said Lofty as he saw tears brim in Dom’s eyes, he made his way over to the Registrar and held him tightly, Dom hugged back and the two stayed like that (just holding each other) for a long time: no one interrupting them, nothing to pull than apart, it was like the universe let them have that moment of silence together.

 

“I guess I’ll tell Hanssen I’m accepting the placement.” Said Dom, smiling through his mixture of happy and sad tears - relieved he would take the offer, but heartbroken he wouldn’t see Lofty for so long.

 

“Yeah you should.” Replied Lofty, despite their parting words neither let go of each other, and eventually Lofty spoke again:

 

“I love you Dom.”

 

“I love you too, so much.”


	12. I'm Missing You Already Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Dom and Lofty to say goodbye

After Dom had confirmed his acceptance for the Sweden placement with Hanssen, he was promptly told he had a week before his plane, which hit home for both himself and Lofty. Neither thought they’d be separated so quickly, but Lofty was determined to make sure Dom left with a smile on his face, so the pair spent as much time with each other as they humanly could: Dom would go to Lofty’s place, Lofty would go to Dom’s place, they’d go on numerous dates, they would treat all their patients together, they’d even go to the little shop by the hospital reception together: They didn’t want to lose a single moment. By the time the week was over, and it was time for Dom to start packing - both secretly hoped for time to slow down so they could have a few extra moments together. Dom’s plane was due to leave on the Monday, it was the Sunday afternoon before (in Dom’s bedroom) as Lofty helped his partner pack his things:

 

“What else do you need?”

 

“Well I should definitely have Arthur’s medal packed, all my toiletries too, all I need now is a few extra shirts and stuff.”

 

“Oh, speaking of which, I bought this for you to take with you…” Murmured Lofty as he left the bedroom for a shirt while, when he re-entered the room he had a small plastic bag in his hand.

 

“What’s this?” Asked Dom and Lofty handed him the bag.

 

“Well, we can call and text and all that, but I thought I would give you one of my hoodies. It’d be the next best thing to me being there.”

 

As Dom pulled Lofty’s big navy blue hoodie out the bag he felt his heart melt at Lofty’s kindness, “Lofty… This is perfect! I’m never gonna take it off whilst I’m away.”

 

“Well I’m glad you like it.”

 

There was a brief pause as neither if them spoke, Dom say on the edge of his bed, caressing the soft and fleecy interior of Lofty’s hoodie, “I really don’t to go tomorrow…”

 

“Dom, come on love, we've talked about this. I don’t want you to go, but just think about how good this trip'll be for your career.”

 

“I don’t want to say goodbye though.”

 

“And I don’t want you throwing away this chance… Besides, don’t think of it as _goodbye_ , think of it as see you later!”

 

“Yeah, I'll try that.” Replied Dom, smiling a little.”

 

“I want details whilst you’re away too!” Added Lofty.

 

“Yes of course I’ll make sure I tell you where I am, who I’m with, where ever I go, I’ll tell you my whole schedule as soon as I find out-”

 

“Not that silly, I want to know about all the surgeries and procedures! And, of course, about all the sightseeing you’re bound to do whilst you’re there.”

 

“Oh… Right, yeah, of course!” Smiled Dom, Issac always wanted all the information, for a split second Dom forgot he didn’t need to justify himself now he was with Lofty.

 

“Will there be time for you to do touristy stuff?”

 

“Hopefully yeah.”

 

“That’s good, I’m sure you’ll 'll have an amazing time! Since you’re in Sweden for Christmas, I'll need your address, so I can send the presents over.”

 

“I'll send the a dress as soon as I can, I already have yours so I'll leave them in my flat for you to pick up?”

 

“Sounds like a plan. What time is your flight tomorrow?”

 

“Five in the morning…”

 

“Well at least it’s early enough that I can see you off at the airport. Work won’t get in the way.”

 

“That’s true.” Replied Dom, perking up a bit at Lofty’s words, “Thank you for going to the airport with me, you don’t have to.”

 

“And miss seeing you off? Not a chance!”

 

That night neither of them got much sleep, they didn’t want to waste a single second, they just held each other closely. Dom watched closely at the rise and fall of Lofty’s torso; how his muscles would loosen as he felt like slipping closer into deep sleep, he saw how hard Lofty was trying to keep his eyes open - trying not to miss a single second.

 

“It’s alright love, you can fall asleep.”

 

“I’m not sleepy.” Retored Lofty as he let out a long and tired yawn.

 

“Lofty it’s fine, if it makes you feel better I’ll go to bed too.”

 

“I’m not gonna see you for the next four months, I don’t want to miss a single moment with you before then.”

 

“Alright.” Smiled Dom.

 

Of course the urge to sleep beckoned to the pair of them, and they fully relaxed into rest, tight in each others arms. As the moon drifted lazily by, and as the clouds danced softly though the pitch black night, not a single star shone. Like the universe knew what was happening, and it didn’t want nature to overpower the moment; it was a calm and peaceful night as the pair slept in each others hold. When the sun came up, and the birds chipped, they woke up tired and both dreading the day and its contents. They lazily got out of bed, slowly ate, washed and prepared for the taxi to the airport; Lofty’s normal routine of singing in the morning had gone silent and non existent, and Dom’s morning coffee looked too bitter to drink that day as he poured it down the sink. Eventually Dom’s taxi had to be rung, when it arrived it was a very long and sombre journey down to the airport as the pair felt their imminent separation inching closer and closer.

 

The pair couldn’t help but think how similar the airport was to the hospital: clinical and clean, full of arrivals and departures, families visiting and leaving with other family members, people waving goodbye as they headed off for their final destination. The only thing that seemed different was the smell, it didn’t smell like the hospital, it was an indescribable scent that only added to Lofty’s nerves and emotions.

 

“Well, I guess this is it.” Stated Dom as they got closer and closer to where they’d eventually have to separate.

 

“Call me when the flight’s over, so I know you landed safely.”

 

“Of course.” Smirked Dom, almost happy to see how much Lofty cared, “And I’ll call and text you about my day, every day.”

 

“I’d like that.”

 

Dom looked up at the large digital screen and saw it was already 4am, his stomach knotted as he realised he'd have to pull himself away in order to catch his flight.

 

“I have to go, bag searches and X-Rays and Passports checks, it’ll take a long while…”

 

“Oh, oh yeah, right yes of course.” Responded Lofty, unsure of how to behave now he knew Dom was really leaving. He was happy  Dom was going to do what he loved, but that didn’t mean him leaving didn't hurt any less, “I’m gonna be hopeless without you.” He joked.

 

“I know you will be.” Teased Dom, “Just try not to blow up the kitchen and you’ll be fine.”

 

“I’m gonna miss you though.” Said Lofty, abruptly changing the subject.

 

“I’m gonna miss you too Lofty, so much.” Agreed Dom, the realisation he was really leaving finally hitting home, “I… I guess I better go then.”

 

“Right. Yeah. You don’t want to miss your flight.”

 

“Yeah…” Dom replied before turning and walking away to the ticket checking station. He walked away as tears brimmed in his eyes, it wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined leaving, but it's not like he could really complain, at least Lofty saw him off.

 

“Dom! Dom wait!” Yelled Lofty just before Dom had joined the queue, Dom promptly turned around to face the direction of Lofty's voice, and as he did so he felt Lofty’s tight embrace, “I forgot to tell you something.”

 

“Yeah?” Asked Dom as he reciprocated the right hug, he tried to stop his emotions from choking him as he spoke.

 

Lofty cupped the side of Dom’s face with one hand and used the other to pull Dom even closer to him, the kiss he gave was sweet and gentle - but full of emotion and feeling. It was bittersweet as Dom kissed back, knowing it’d be the last time he’d be able to do so till the placement was over. When the pair eventually pulled away from each other Lofty looked into Dom’s eyes, his own were shiny with tears as he held back the want and need to cry:

 

“I love you, you do know that?”

 

“Of course.” Smiled Dom, “But not as much as I love you.”

 

They hugged each other one last time, until Dom really had to go, as they released each other from the gluing Dom spoke: “I’ll see you later.”

 

“I'll see you later.” Replied Lofty, smiling as Dom smiled back. The Registrar eventually walked away and into the ticket queue, very satisfied with how his departure went (as much as he didn’t really want to go and leave in the first place). After he had his ticket scanned and checked and authorised, Dom left for baggage checks, turning the corner, leaving him unseeable in Lofty’s line of sight.

 

For the first time since they started dating, Lofty felt his heart break. But as much as he would miss Dom he knew he was doing the right thing, he knew being selfless would mean Dom would have better prospects, he knew Dom was loyal and loved him - all he had to be worried of was the plane journey. Eventually Lofty walked out of the airport and to a nearby cab, he turned his coat collar up against the freezing December wind: they’d miss Christmas, New year's and their one year anniversary together because of the placement - this thought alone made Lofty’s head spin. But as much as he would miss Dom, Lofty knew that as he stepped into the cab and drove away, he didn’t regret Dom leaving. He knew it was for the best.


	13. I'm Missing You Already Part 3

The flight had been long and monotonous: babies were crying and old men and women were complaining of the lack of foot space the whole time. When Dom had gotten off the plane (having arrived in Stockholm), he was greeted by a young man holding a sign with his name on it:

 

“Eh, Mr Copeland?” Asked the young man. He was tall, soft brown and wavy hair, he had a clean shaven face and his suit sparkled with cleanliness and high class. 

 

“Please call me Dom.”

 

“Dominic, I am Oscar Nyberg, I'll be your assistant and tour guide throughout your stay here in Stockholm.”

 

“Fab, where are we off to first?”

 

“We’ll head to your apartment and drop off your things before heading over to the hospital.”

 

“Right, sounds like a plan. You’re English is very good.”

 

“Thank you I study hard, I hope I live up to your expectations Dominic.”

 

“I’m sure you will.”

 

The rest of the day had been simple, just as Oscar had said; they dropped off his stuff at his temporary apartment and went to the hospital to meet and greet the staff he’d be working with for the next few months. It was lucky he had Oscar to translate for him, most nurses didn’t speak much English and Dom didn’t speak a lick of Swedish. By the time he left the hospital it was quite late, and Dom just wanted to go to bed, he’d been texting Lofty all day after he got off the plane (they had a skype call arranged for later) and he just wanted to get back for coffee and sleep. Oscar had insisted on accompanying him to the apartment (to know Dom got back safely), which Dom appreciated. But once Dom was back at his apartment, Oscar having walked him to the door, the young Swedish translator didn’t leave - which Dom couldn’t help but shift with unease at.

 

“Well, I guess this is me, thank you Oscar. I can see you’re going to be a high help to me for the next few months.”

 

“Glad to help.” Smiled Oscar, still not walking away.

 

“Well, goodnight Oscar, get back home safely.”

 

“Will do Dominic. Have a pleasant rest.”

 

“You too.” Replied Dom as he stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind himself, Oscar only left once the door had been locked shut. Dom sighed tiredly as he grabbed his laptop from his suitcase, he gave Lofty a text saying he was ready to call. It was late for Dom, but it with the time difference it wasn’t too late for Lofty, the curly headed nurse responded to Dom’s text almost immediately:

 

_ Great! I’ll log on now x _

 

A few minutes went by as Lofty logged on before they actually began the Skype call, when they did however Lofty and Dom felt themselves relax as they saw pixelated versions of each other on their laptop screens.

 

“Dom!” Exclaimed Lofty, ecstatic to see Dom.

 

“Hiya love!”

 

“How’s Stockholm?”

 

“Cold, very cold, but the facilities here are amazing! I got a tour of the hospital and I met the staff and I have my own translator called Oscar and I already have the green light to assist in surgeries and experiments and projects, I’m so excited to begin this programme! I’m so happy I accepted the offer.”

 

“I’m happy you took it too, you seem really happy.”

 

“I am, but that doesn't mean I don’t miss you.”

 

“I miss you too, it’s barely been two days and I miss you this much!”

 

“Really?”

 

“Nah…” Joked Lofty, “I don’t have to make coffee for the next four months, it’s a godsend really.”

 

“Very funny.” Smirked Dom, knowing Lofty wasn’t being serious.

 

“Our first Christmas together and we’re going to be apart for it, and New Years!” Exclaimed Lofty, changing the subject.

 

“I know the timing is terrible isn’t it?”

 

“Incredibly.” Agreed Lofty, his smile fading a little, “Well I guess I’ll just have to annoy Robyn and Max and hang out with them for Christmas.”

 

“You’ll have to get Charlotte something!”

 

“I already have.”   
  


“And Digby! He needs a present for Christmas too!”

 

“I already have one!”

 

“What’d you get him?”

 

“A bone about the length of my leg.”

 

“Fab!”

 

The pair spoke like this for hours, till Dom’s jet lag finally hit him like a ton of bricks and he needed to go to bed. The pair said goodnight to each other and Dom went to sleep, exhausted but thrilled by his first day in Stockholm. That night he slept soundly, but when he woke up (having instinctively turned in the bed to face where Lofty would normally be) he was greeted by the other half of the bed being completely empty.

 

“Oh yeah…” Murmured Dom to himself before shoving his face in his pillow out of frustration, “Why do I already miss him this much?”

 

When he eventually got out of bed he went about getting ready for his first proper day at the hospital: he got washed and dressed and he style his hair and moustache, he packed his scrubs (which were a pale, pastel blue shade - a stark contrast to his red Registrar scrubs) and lunch into his bag before heading out of the apartment. As he locked the apartment door and turned around, he was quite surprised to see Oscar stood outside his apartment.

 

“Oscar! Wow you, scared the life out of me.”

 

“I apologise. I must collect you and take you to work every morning.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, and accompany you home.”

 

“How long have you been stood outside my door?”

 

"So, if you will please follow me to the vehicle Dominic?” Ignoring Dom’s question.

 

“Oh, yes of course let’s go.”

 

As days went by and the placement progressed, Dom couldn’t help but notice how attentive Oscar was to him, and friendly (some would say too friendly), there would be times where Dom would notice Oscar staring at him or smiling at him from across the room. Dom would return these smiles with a look of unease, as much as he didn’t want to jump the gun, Dom couldn’t help but notice that Oscar made him uncomfortable. As time went by, with Christmas and New Years coming and going, Dom saw Oscar’s ‘friendly’ behaviour become more intimate: grabbing him by the arm or waist, getting uncomfortably close to the Registrar as he spoke, three months into the placement he even flirted with him whilst in the hospital:

 

“Oscar what’s the patient saying?”

 

“He says you’re very handsome.”

 

“I’m sorry,  _ what _ ? _ ” _

 

“Oh no that’s just me, he says the pain isn’t as bad as it was before.”

 

Whilst Dom grew more and more uncomfortable as the placement progressed, Lofty was in Holby trying to get through the four months as easily as he could. No amount of Skype calls or texts could stop him from moping about the Keller ward and looking glum as he treated patients; Sacha and Essie noticed his behavior immediately, and they already knew why he was behaving the way he was. They’d been trying to keep his moral up ever since Dom had left, but at the three month mark Lofty was starting to let his loneliness get to him - so they decided to try and cheer him up a bit:

 

“Lofty we know you miss him, but try and perk up! You still get to talk to him.” Attempted Sacha.

 

“I know that, but it’s just not the same as having him actually here. It doesn’t help we missed out first Christmas and New Years together.”

 

“Yeah, I have to agree that can’t have been easy.” He agreed, but he was quick to make another point after feeling a sharp  _ You’re not helping!   _ kick from Essie, “But hey! Less than a month to go!”

 

“Exactly, if you can make it through three months you can endure one more.” Added Essie.

 

“I guess you’re right.”

 

“Do you have something nice planned for when he comes back?”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m going to let him sleep the plane ride off first, but then I have something planned to make up for lost time.”

 

“Really? What is it?”

 

“I’ll tell you when it’s all ready and set up!” Smiled Lofty before walking off to go see to one of his patients, Sacha and Essie’s talk seeming to have worked its magic on him.

 

Dom had decided against telling Lofty what Oscar was doing, it’s not that he thought Lofty would be mad (quite the opposite), he just didn’t want Lofty to think he was in trouble or that he was having a bad time - because he wasn't. Despite Oscar's troublesome behaviours (to which Dom had shown obvious disinterest), Dom had been having the time of his life working alongside the professor: taking part in ground breaking projects and surgeries, trying out equipment that wasn’t available in the UK (not to mention all the compliments and praises he received as an added bonus). If it weren’t for the fact he had a return plane ticket and homesickness, Dom would’ve gladly stayed just a while longer. But alas, like all good things, the placement was coming to an end and Dom had to start packing his bag for his return flight. After his last day at the Hospital he gave his many thanks to the staff as well as the Professor before leaving to grab a taxi back home, he’d decided to leave the hospital without Oscar: the man had been glued more than usual the past few days and Dom wanted to shake him off for a bit (his flirtatious behavior had grown rather annoying). However despite his best attempts, the young Swede had managed to track him down once again (by the Hospital's entrance):

 

“Dominic! Where are you going?”

 

“Back to my apartment. I have my flight tonight.”

 

“I know that, I know that. I could help you pack?”

 

“No.” Replied Dom firmly.

 

“Why not? It’ll be fun.  _ We _ could have a lot of fun together.”

 

“No!” Responded Dom, disgusted at Oscar’s words.

 

“Why not? I’m an attractive man, no?”

 

“I’m in a long term, loyal and committed relationship with my boyfriend. I have no want to sleep with you!”

 

“He doesn’t need to know does he? He’s in another country, he’d never need to find out.”

 

Dom glared at the intolerable man for a long while, “You disgust me Oscar.” He said as he went to walk past him, but Oscar was having none of it, grabbing Dom by the arm firmly to stop him from walking away.

 

“Let go of me!”

 

“What if I don’t want to?” Smirked Oscar devilishly.

 

Dom eventually managed to shove Oscar away from him, feeling sick to his stomach from his words, Dom stormed off to find the nearest taxi that would take him back to his apartment - leaving Oscar alone, annoyed and angry at the hospital entrance. When Dom got back to the apartment he immediately set about packing his bags, he double checked his return ticket was safely in his suitcase and he gave Lofty a quick text:

 

“Just think, I’ll be home by tonight! x”

 

“Waited for this for four months x” Replied Lofty, “Can’t believe I managed to live without you helping me do the washing!”

 

“Very funny x love you”

 

“I love you too x I need to get back to work so I’ll talk later”

 

The hours went by achingly slowly for the pair of them, Dom was wasting away the hours till he needed to leave for the airport by watching Swedish television (despite not knowing a single word of what it was saying) whilst Lofty made himself busy by clocking a few extra hours at work, he’d leave when it was time to pick Dom up from the airport. As Lofty continued working, it was time for Dom to grab his bag, grab a taxi and head to the airport. In all that spare time he’d picked up some simple phrases from the Tv, so he would use them to get himself home (since he had previously relied on Oscar). As he got off the couch and grabbed his bag he suddenly heard loud banging on his apartment front door:

 

_ Thud. Thud. Thud. _

 

Stricken with fear Dom didn’t speak, or make himself heard, turning off the Tv as fast as he could.

 

_ Thud. Thud. Thud. _

 

Instinctively Dom grabbed his phone from the coffee table and dashed over to his bedroom; he locked the bedroom door before locking himself in the closet. As Dom locked himself in the closet a loud  _ crunch _ sound could be heard as the front door was broken down, Dom’s heart raced with pure fear and adrenaline, and then he heard the intruder speak: 

 

“Oh Dominic….” 

 

It was Oscar.

 

Dom tucked himself into a ball in the far corner of the of the small closet, sensing he still had time to do so he called the police, before the operator could finish their sentence Dom hurriedly began to speak using the little Swedish he knew:

 

“Hjälp, hjälp!” He cried quietly into the phone, “Dålig man, Oscar Nyberg. Dålig man, Oscar Nyberg.” The now terrified Registrar gave his address, repeating it multiple times before hanging up the phone, he didn’t know what the operator was saying and there was only one person he wanted to speak to as he went through his contacts.

 

“Come on Lofty, pick up, pick up…” Begged Dom quietly as he heard Oscar walking about the apartment, eventually Lofty did answer and a flood of relief washed over him as he heard Lofty’s voice; “Lofty, thank God, thank God you picked up.”

 

“Dom what’s up? Is everything alright?”

 

“Lofty he’s in the apartment. I can't get out.”

 

“ _ What _ _?_ ” Asked Lofty, dumbstruck by Dom’s panicked voice and words.

 

“Oscar Nyberg, he was my translator, he’s just broken in to the apartment. He broke the door down, Lofty I’m so scared.”

 

“This can’t be real…” Prayed Lofty, almost hoping it was all a joke.

 

“God I can hear him walking around the apartment, I have to hang up now.”

 

“Dom no! Stay on the phone with me, don't hang up.”

 

“He’ll hear me if I do… Lofty, I should never have taken the placement.”

 

“This isn’t happening because of that, Dom listen to me everything will be fine.”

 

Tears began to fall down Dom’s face as he felt Oscar getting closer, “I love you, you know that right?”

 

“Dom don’t talk like that. This’ll all work out. Don’t talk like that.”

 

“Please say you love me.” Begged Dom, thinking it’d be for the last time, “Please.”

 

“Dom you know I love you, I love you so much you have no idea. Dom I love you.”

 

Dom held his phone tightly as if he was trying to hold Lofty one last time, his hands shook with fear as every memory of Issac came flooding back to him, as he heard Oscar’s footsteps creek along the laminate flooring of the living room Dom whispered into the phone: 

 

“Goodbye.”

 

And with that Dom hung up the phone call. Lofty stood with the phone still glued to his ear, completely shaken and filled with confusion and pure fear, Sacha and Essie had seen the conversation take place from where they were sat at the main desk, and as they saw Lofty’s face go from panic to pure fear, they decided to talk to him about it.

 

“Lofty? Lofty what’s wrong?” Asked Essie.

 

“Dom’s in trouble.”

 

“What?” Asked Sacha, hoping he’s misheard Lofty.

 

“Dom’s in trouble I need to go. I need to go.” He responded before sprinting out of the hospital and to the nearest taxi, he practically threw himself in the front passenger seat as the driver asked for his destination, trying not to hyperventilate as he spoke Lofty was quick to answer (almost cutting off the driver mid-sentence):

 

“The airport. As fast as you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't help myself! A little bit of angst before the new year


	14. I'm Missing You Already Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: STORY LINE INVOLVES HOME INVASION. IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE SUBJECT PLEASE DO NOT READ THE CHAPTER

Dom was trying his best to keep his voice down, to not hyperventilate, and most importantly to make himself unheard. He could hear Oscar walk around the apartment, he had been doing so for a while; checking every closet and doorway available before making his way to the bedroom, when he saw it saw locked, Dom could hear the smile on his face broaden as he spoke:

 

“Dominic… Don’t you know how  _ rude _ it is to lock the door on someone? Will you please open it?”

 

Dom remained silent.

 

“Open it.” Repeated Oscar, a little sterner than before.

 

Nothing came from Dom’s mouth.

 

“Open the damn door Dominic.”

 

As Dom began to shake with fear, so did the door with Oscar’s violent anger. Through the slits in the closet door Dom saw the patio door on the other side of the bedroom; the patio door that led to the balcony. 

 

The  _ balcony. _

 

A surge of hope and fear ran through Dom like electricity as he thought of his options: stay inside and wait for Oscar to find him, or attempt escape. The latter option was the most tempting, and it was the option he decided to go with when he heard the bedroom door get battered.

 

_ Bang. _

 

_ Bang. _

 

_ Bang. _

 

With little to no hesitation, Dom unlocked the closet door and rushed to the sliding patio door on the other side, he hastily unlocked it and stepped out into the freezing weather (made especially colder by the fact Dom was wearing a thing shirt and no coat). He searched for a means of escape, and was quick to spot the fire escape a little ways down the building, as he spotted his route to get away, another loud crunch could be heard as the lock broke to the bedroom door - Oscar was going to see him. With the floor of another balcony above him acting as a thin  layer of shadow to protect him, Dom tried to figure out an escape route, but eventually he realised there was only one possibility: jump down to the next balcony, the window next to it would take him right to the ladder. As the stars shone in the black sky, not a single cloud moved, not a single animal shrieked or called or made the slightest of noise. The wind was bitter and cold as it bit and nipped through Dom’s shirt, but the young and now terrified Registrar did not let that phase him. Limb by limp he clambered over the railing of the balcony to lower himself down, he tried to control his shaking as he did so (unsure if it was a reaction to the cold or his own fear). Just as he managed to get his whole body on the other side of the railings, Oscar finally spotted him.

 

“Shit…” Murmured Dom, Oscar’s gaze cutting through him like a knife.

 

Wanting to savour the moment, Oscar walked very slowly towards the door; enjoying the sight of Dom’s panic, the quick paced rise and fall of his chest, the soundless cycle of pleads and begs that came from his mouth. Yes, oh yes, he was going to enjoy this. He’d had enough of Dom’s petty excuses, surely he was just playing hard to get? He had to be, there was no way Dom could turn down a man like himself and actually mean it. Countless people before had cheated on their partners for the sake of his bed, so why was Dom pretending to be different? Whether he liked it or not, Dom would have to be taught a lesson.

  
  


                             ------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Lofty, despite his panic, had remembered he need to grab his passport from his apartment, and informed the driver not long after setting off on their journey. The driver looked miffed but drove to the apartment nonetheless, upon pulling up outside the building Lofty told the driver to wait, the young nurse rushed up the stairs (the public elevator being out of service) and to to his apartment. He flung open the front door after jamming his key in the lock and practically tore his apartment apart in his mad search for clothes, money, his passport and his I.D. He threw all of these things into a bag and went to leave when he remembered Digby; he rushed over to the dog’s spare room, unlocked him from his crate and put more water in his bowl - the dog sitter (Sarah) had already fed him whilst Lofty was at work. 

 

“I’ll… I’ll leave you out the crate, your big enough not to break anything in here, or nock anything over, I’ll call Sarah and have her look after you whilst I’m away.” Muttered Lofty to himself and the dog (but mostly to himself), once he sorted everything out he got down to Digby’s level and hugged him, “I’ll see you soon Digby, everything will be okay. Everything has to be okay.”

 

Lofty then left Digby open in his room, he made one last quick check that he had packed the necessities before rushing back to the taxi which was, thankfully, still there. When Lofty arrived at the airport he threw money at the driver to pay for his way, he didn’t wait to receive his change and he was already out the car and sprinting towards the ticket desk. The clinical design of the airport only made Lofty’s stomach churn more as he waited for an employee to see to him. He ran his fingers through his hair and wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead, when someone from the desk finally came to see to him, he looked a state:

 

“Sir, you don’t look very well…” Stated the ticket lady, her warm smile failing to make Lofty feel any better.

 

“It’s fine, I’m fine, I’ll be fine. Just help me.”

 

“Yes of course, what can I do for you?”

 

“I need a plane ticket. To Stockholm.”

 

“When for?”

 

“Right now.”   
  


“Right now? But sir you don’t seem to have any luggage…”

 

“It’s alright that doesn’t matter. I just need the ticket, it’s important I get to Stockholm as soon as I can.”

 

“Well sir, I’m afraid I have to tell you the next flight is in four hours.”

 

“Four hours? Four hours, God, I can’t wait that long!”

 

“Sir it’s the best I can do, I am sorry.”

 

For a brief moment, clarity struck Lofty, and he realised he needed to calm down, “Four hours. Right, okay, four hours. I’ll just have to wait. Please don’t apologise you haven’t done anything wrong, I’m just… Scared is all, forgive me.”   
  


“It’s quite alright sir, so do you want that ticket?”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

“Single or return?”

 

“Return, make it an open ended ticket, I don't know how long I’ll be there for.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Once Lofty paid for his plane tickets Lofty decided to get through customs, he had no bags to check, all he needed to do was have a body search as well as a hand luggage and passport check before getting to the terminals. But once he had done so he still had a three hour wait, and with that much time he didn’t know what to do: he couldn’t call Dom incase the intruder heard the phone go off, he couldn’t phone the police because everything was happening in Stockholm (not the UK), the only thing he would really do was phone a friend; which is exactly what he did.

 

“Pick up, pick up….” Muttered Lofty as his phone dialed and rang.

 

“Hiya?” It was Sarah, the girl who normally looked after Digby.

  
“Sarah I need your help, I need to go to Stockholm and I need someone to look after Digby.

 

“ _ Stockholm?” _

 

“Don’t ask why, I’ll explain when it’s all sorted out.”   
  


“I can’t look after Digby tonight.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I’m in hospital, I was on a Hen Night when I broke my ankle whilst wearing heels - I fed Digby before I went out. I can’t leave the hospital and I can’t walk, I can’t go check on him again. I’m sorry Lofty…”

 

“Don’t worry about it, just make sure you’re okay, I’ll figure something out.”

 

Too panicky to be polite Lofty promptly hung up, he searched through his contacts till he found one last person who would possibly help him with Digby, he immediately pressed the call button and silently prayed they would pick up.

 

“Hello this is Puppy Haven Shelter, you’re speaking to Lucy how can I help you?”

 

“Lucy! Thank God! It’s Lofty.”

 

“Lofty, good to hear from you, how’s Digby?”

 

“Great he’s great, look I’m gonna cut to the point, I need you to do me a favour.”

 

“Of course, what’s up?”

 

“I’ve just had to leave from work, I’m going to Stockholm - Dom’s in trouble. I need someone to look out for Digby.”

 

“Is Dom okay?” Asked Lucy, clearly and genuinely concerned.

 

“I don’t know, I’m terrified Lucy, I need to make sure he’s okay but I don’t have anyone to look after Digby, my normal dog sitter broke her ankle and she’s in hospital but now I’m left with Digby alone in the apartment and I don't know what to-”

 

“Lofty don’t worry. I’ll get it sorted. We still have your address on file, I finish work in an hour. Can Digby wait till then?”

 

“Probably yeah, he’s in his room, the dog sitter fed him before she went out, he has his water bowl too so he should be fine till then.”

 

“How do I get into your apartment?”   
  


“The building manager keeps a second key, go to his desk, put me on the phone and I’ll tell him you have permission to go into and stay in my apartment.”   
  


“Will do.”   
  


“Thank you Lucy, we don’t really know each other, but you’re helping out so much.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, I feel like you’d do the exact same thing if I were in your position. Can I bring Rosey?”

 

“Rosey?”

 

“My girlfriend, the Veterinarian.”

 

“Oh of course, of course, there’s food and drink in the fridge, I owe you a lot more than that but please help yourself.”

 

“Don’t be daft, we’ll be at yours to look after Digby before long, we’ll call you when we get to your apartment complex.”

 

“Thank you.”

  
  


                                ------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“No, no, no, no, please don’t…” Begged Dom, even though  he knew Oscar couldn’t hear him through the thick glass of the sliding door. 

 

Oscar just kept smirking devilishly, like he knew he was going to savour the moment, like he knew Dom was petrified - and he adored it. Sirens could be heard pulling up at the building, and as much as they meant safety, Dom knew he was far from out of the woods. As he took one last look down at the balcony below, he lowered himself down; his hands (although they were struggling to do so) wanted to keep hold of the metal railing, his nerves too shot to let go. It was only when Oscar arrived on the balcony and walked to the edge where Dom was dangling from that he let go - Oscar’s stare having scared him into letting go. He felt his heart drop as he dropped, there was a fair gap between his balcony and the one below him, he just had to hope he hadn’t miscalculated his landing. When he landed on the floor of the balcony below his own, he failed to land on his feet, and instead landed on his side (winding himself in the process). As he struggled to gain his breath, he saw Oscar climbing over the railings to join him below - Dom had to just keep on going.

  
  
  


                              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lofty looked into his to go cup of tea, the urge to cry being swallowed up by his want to see Dom safe. He repeatedly looked at the arrivals and departures board, as if hoping that doing so would make time go faster and his plane arrive sooner. Still, there two hours to go before the plane even arrived, and Lofty hadn’t even thought about take off time and landing time and how long it would take to get through the Swedish customs… Time was taking too long, and it was time Lofty worried he didn’t really have, he just wanted Dom safe. Lucy and Rosey had called him, after sorting things out with the building manager, they were inside his apartment looking after Digby - which was one less thing to worry about. He sighed a breath of mild relief, knowing Digby was being well looked after was a massive weight off his shoulders, he didn’t know how long he was going to be in Stockholm for. 

 

He’d been texting Sacha and Essie during his wait, which would’ve been a nice distraction if it weren’t for the fact he had to tell them what was happening to Dom (they were Dom’s friend how would he  _ not _ tell them). Eventually, needing an emotional break, he turned off his phone; allowing the buzzes and trills of notifications to fall dead silent. He felt mean for doing it, but his head was spinning and his gut was doing flips, looking at a phone screen was the last thing he wanted to do. Still staring into his cup of tea, Lofty spoke:

 

“Come home safe.  _ Please _ .”

  
  
  


                      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dom fumbled to his feet, he could hear Oscar struggling to drop down onto the balcony, so he took the opportunity to climb over the railings and make his way onto the window ledge next to it. Being off the balcony made him feel safer yet all the more terrified, it was just a thin width of cement between him living and falling thirteen stories to the hard ground below - and no number of police cars and officers (of which there were quite a few standing outside the building) could save him from that. He saw the ladder in front of him, but in order to get to it he’d have to jump, and as much as he’d already gone so far in his escape; every fibre of his being told him there was no way he was going to jump. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead he decided to keep scaling the window ledges of the apartment building, clawing and climbing and scrambling his way away from Oscar (who was slowly gaining ground on him having lowered himself to the balcony).

 

“You know Dominic,” Began Oscar as he clambered over the railing and onto the window ledge Dom had just been on, “You should’ve just said yes. A man like myself is dangerous when upset. And I’m very upset with you.”

 

“All because I wouldn't sleep with you?”

 

“All I thought it would take was some convincing. A little bit of sweet talking, get you completely in love with me, and you’d never want to leave Stockholm. You’d be mine.”

 

“Well you’re insane.”

 

Oscar chuckled at his words, inching his ways closer and closer to Dominic, “Maybe so.”

 

“Why are you doing this!” 

 

“You’ve annoyed me. All I wanted was a bit of company. I flirted, I teased, I tried my best to make you like me, yet still your going to go and leave me.”

 

“We’ve known each other for four months.” Argued Dom, still crawling along the window sills.

 

“And in those four months I’ve grown completely infatuated. You’re interesting Dom. I doubt your partner is. And I’m interesting too… So why not just forget him?” Asked Oscar growing more and more emotional, and visibly angry.

 

“Because he gives me something you’ll never understand.”

 

“What would that possibly be?”

 

“Love, Oscar. He loves me and I love him. And there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

 

In a blinding fury (from Dom’s words), Oscar lunged at Dom, his arm outstretched to grab him and throw him off his window sill, by now the police had spotted the two scaling the apartment walls, and the police lights were flashing brightly at them as a Swedish officer spoke gibberish into a megaphone. As Oscar lunged, he misplaced his foot, slipping and beginning to fall from his windowsill, he attempted to grab Dom again but the young Registrar was fast enough to dodge his claw like hand. Oscar fell from the building without Dom in his clutches, he fell those thirteen stories and the police weren’t there to catch him in time. He plunged to the floor like a lead balloon, leaving Dom grasping at the window edges - still stood (safely enough) on the window ledge.

 

He was safe.

  
  


                              ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Lofty’s plane had finally arrived, a sense of relief had washed over him, he knew he was getting closer and closer to seeing Dom again - but whether or not Dom was okay was a completely different question. When he got off the plane and through customs, he went to the money exchange desk at the airport and had some of his spare money changed to Swedish Krona, with that money he somehow had to make his way to the police station. He didn’t know where else to go (and he knew Dom would’ve called the police), so he hopped into a taxi and struggled to give his destination; eventually turning to google translate to give the driver the place he wanted to go. The drive was a silent one, on the way over to Stockholm’s main police station Lofty tried to call Dom multiple times, but they all went to voicemail - which only made Lofty more nervous. Upon arriving at the station Lofty paid the driver what he was due and got out of the vehicle, his heart pounding with nerves, every part of him hoped Dom would be at the station safe and unharmed. He tentatively walked inside and made his way over to the main desk, phone in hand he managed to get across he wanted to see someone. He told the stern looking man at the desk the person he wanted to see was called Dominic Copeland, the man seemed to recognise this name and made a phone call somewhere, when he put the phone down he smiled briefly:

 

“Follow me now.” Said the man, it was a sentence that seemed to be a collection of all the english he knew.

 

Lofty did as asked and followed the man deeper into the police station, his heart pounding harder and louder with each step he took, he glanced at the people inside the cells, trying not to make eye contact he proceeded to stare at the lime greet laminate flooring.

 

_ Please be safe… _ He thought to himself.

  
  


                         ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dom was shaken to say the least. He’d watched Oscar fall from that building, he saw everything, like his eyes were glued to his inevitable outcome. Despite not being to understand him, the translator having already left after the interview, the officers at the station had been kind enough to hand him a blanket and a cup of coffee as well as a sandwich. But despite the fact he was hungry, Dom knew he couldn’t stomach anything, so he just quietly sat there sipping on the hot cup of caffeine. As he focused on the wall opposite him, replaying the events over and over in his head, he heard distant mumblings being shared between the officers. Still staring at the ivory painted brickwork, Dom was in a world of his own; his phone had died not long after they got him off the building, he couldn’t tell Lofty he was okay, he couldn’t contact him…

 

“Dom!” Exclaimed a familiar voice, Dom broke out of his trance like state and looked up to see Lofty stood in front of him, for a while he thought he was imagining things.

 

“There’s no way…” Muttered Dom, believing his eyes were playing tricks on him, he didn’t believe Lofty was really there - there’s no way he'd have really traveled all that way, right?

 

Lofty was quick to embrace Dom tightly and squeeze him a little whilst he was still sat in his chair swaddled by the blanket, but Dom was dumbstruck; he instinctively felt the material of Lofty’s coat, and he gently ran his fingers through the Nurse’s curly hair, Dom’s heart swelled with joy - he was real.

 

“Oh my God, Lofty it’s you.” Cried Dom, jumping out of his chair to hold Lofty properly, the blanket falling to the floor in the process, the two hugged for a long while - Lofty was as close to tears as Dom was.

 

“I thought you were gone…” Admitted Lofty, stilling hugging Dom, “I thought I’d lost you.”

 

“How are you in Stockholm?” Asked Dom, clearly overjoyed that Lofty was there, seemingly unwilling to let Lofty go.

 

“Well I’m not gonna sit there and just wait am I? I had to come, I had to make sure you were okay, I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you… The flight was a four hour wait and there was customs and-”

 

But Lofty’s words were gently cut off by Dom kissing him, a slow and sweet kiss that almost seemed to make time slow down, the two were lost in their moment, neither one of them caring about who was watching. In the distance there was an audible  _ Awww _ from one of the officers before he was lightly smacked round the head by another one of his co-workers, not wanting anyone to disrupt Dom and Lofty’s moment. Eventually the pair parted form the kiss and looked into each other’s eyes. Both were emotionally drained, but both had tears in their eyes, but were relieved they would hold each other again after so long.

 

“I love you so much Dom.” 

 

“I love you too.” Replied Dom warmly.

 

“I’ll admit this isn’t what I had in mind for meeting you again.” 

 

Dom laughed a little at Lofty’s words, relieved Lofty would still make him smile as per usual, “Well it doesn’t matter now we’re back together, does it?”

 

“No it doesn’t” Smiled Lofty before the pair hugged each other again. Neither wanted to let go, so whilst they hugged Lofty spoke again:

 

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tis the end of this multi-chater story line! I hope you enjoyed it :)


	15. If Only We Had a Time Machine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lil bit of fluff never hurt anyone
> 
> enjoy!

Dom was thankful to be back home. Lofty felt blessed knowing Dom had come back home with him safe. Of course Dom had missed his original flight, and with Lofty having an open ended ticket they had to buy Dom a ticket home, not that either of them minded (although Dom did feel guilty since Lofty had to pay). After Dom’s interrogation and interview, the police were quick to remove him from the list, and after a couple of extra days the pair were back at the airport to go back home. It turned out that Oscar had a history of battery and stalking charges, Dom wasn’t the only man he’d grown too infatuated with: three other men before him had claimed Oscar was intimidating and dominating towards them. When the pair found this out at the police station Lofty had felt his stomach lurch - the idea of what Oscar could’ve done to Dom making his gut cartwheel with anxiety. But things were different now. There was no Oscar to worry about and Dom was safe - in Lofty’s mind that was all that mattered.

 

When they arrived at the airport to go home, it felt different to Lofty, the last time he’d been in one was to go to Sweden; the sickening smell of clean and indescribable ‘nothing’ knocking him dizzy. This time it smelt fine, safe even, with Dom clutching tightly to his hand as they went through the building of bag searches and body checks. He felt utterly safe. The flight home wasn’t too long, they spent it sleeping, neither had managed to sleep very well in Sweden whilst Dom was being questioned. Before the plane took off Dom put down the armrest that divided their seats and made himself more comfortable; cushioning his head in Lofty’s shoulder to make himself cozy.

 

“I hope you don’t mind…” Said Dom as he began to doze off.

 

“Not at all love, sleep as long as you can, you need it.”

 

“You saying I have bags under my eyes?” Joked Dom, still drifting to sleep.

 

“Yep. Not that I can say much, I do too.” Replied Lofty, “I’m so glad you’re safe Dom, that you’re here with me.”

 

“I am too Lofty.” Smiled Dom, he felt Lofty give him a gentle kiss on the forehead before he promptly fell asleep. Lofty made himself more comfortable and eventually he fell asleep too, the pair of them spent the rest of the flight resting, neither waking up till they were awoken by a stewardess.

 

“‘Scuse me sirs, the flight’s over, it’s time for you to get off.”

 

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Replied Lofty, having woken up before Dom, “We’ll get our stuff now.”

 

“Thank you sir.” Replied the stewardess before walking away.

 

“Dom… Dom love, wake up.” Murmured Lofty as he tried to nudge Dom awake, as the young Registrar stirred to consciousness Lofty spoke again, “The plane landed, it’s time to go home.”

 

“Yay…” Responded Dom, still half asleep.

 

Once they eventually got off the plane and into the airport they went through bag checks and passport inspections and body checks and customs, it took a while (which for the sleepy pair felt like an eternity), but once they were out of the airport they were soon into a taxi to take them back to Lofty’s apartment. It was late by the time they were off the plane, the Holby sky painted black with white specks of stars, the breeze was calm as the faint outline of the moon could be seen over head. Dom liked the smell the air gave as he walked out of the airport, it smelt like home - a smell he’d grown to miss (but had never forgotten) whilst in Sweden. In the taxi, Lofty had to keep Dom awake, promising he could sleep once they were back home, and Dom promised to keep his eyes open. As they drove past and through familiar winding roads, Lofty made sure to call Lucy.

 

“Lucy! Hi, it’s Lofty. Yeah we’re on our way back, thank you so much for looking after Digby- he’s been at the shelter? Oh, oh okay, you took him to work with you… So he’s back at the house? Thank you so much, it was a lot to ask to have you house sit for so long.” Lucy’s murmured response of not to apologise sounded down the phone before Lofty spoke again, “Well we’ll still make sure to get you and Rosey a massive thank you present, we’ll see you soon, bye.”

 

Once the taxi had pulled up outside of Lofty’s apartment complex the pair got out after Lofty paid the driver, they trudged their way upstairs and into the apartment, on the coffee table there was a note:

 

_“Digby’s in his crate, we left at around ten, tidied a little bit, sorry, after we saw the chaos you made from last minute packing we couldn’t not fix it a little! Digby was an angel, we’ll talk soon, get some rest!_

 

_\-- Lucy and Rosey xxx”_

 

Lofty smiled before looking up to properly inspect the apartment, and it was indeed very organised: everything was tidily packed away and cleaned, it even looked like they’d ran the hoover around. _They’ll need a very big thank you present_ thought Lofty to himself as he went to go find Dom, who was already lying on top of the bed, still fully dressed but on the verge of falling asleep regardless. Lofty chuckled to himself sleepily before speaking:

 

“Dom, you can’t sleep in that.”

 

“I can _try.”_ Replied Dom lazily.

 

“Dom, come on, I’ll help you into some pajamas, then you can sleep as long as you want.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“Promise.”

 

Dom soon did as he was told and sat up to take off his clothes whilst Lofty searched to find him some pajamas, once dressed into his nightwear Lofty made sure Dom was comfortably in bed before getting dressed into his pajamas too. After doing so, not quite feeling as sleepy as Dom (since the sleep on the plane had rejuvenated his energy), he decided to give Sacha a call in the living room (as to not wake Dom).

 

“Me and Dom are back”

 

“Yeah, Dom said you were on a plane home, how is he?”

 

“Doing well, just tired more than anything I think, me too to be honest.”

 

“Well you’ve both had a bit of a shock.”

 

“I wasn’t even there.”

 

“Yeah but you love him.”

 

Lofty felt a lump form in his throat, the memories, the fear of losing Dom flooding back into his memory, it took him a while to regain himself but he eventually responded, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

 

“So, about taking leave-”

 

“I told Dom I’d speak to you about giving him some time off, if it means I have to take extra shifts I will, but please-”

 

“I was talking about leave for the pair of you.”

 

“Both of us?”

 

“It’s affected the both of you. I’m telling you to take time off, alright Lofty? You and Dom.”

 

Lofty paused before responding, Sacha would hear the smile on his lips as Lofty spoke, “Yeah, thank you Sacha, we’ll both be taking time off then, will you find replacements in time?”

 

“You’re replacement has been working since the day after you left Lofty, don’t worry about that.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Goodnight Lofty.”

 

“Goodnight Sacha.”

 

Lofty placed the phone down and stayed sat on the couch for a long while, realising he had the time to do so, he eventually got off the couch to go organise the surprise he’d had instore for Dom’s arrival. He spent the remainder of the night and the majority of the morning working on it, with Dom heavily asleep he didn’t have to worry about the young Registrar walking in on him getting everything ready. Exhaustion had hit him like bus but he didn’t mind, the thought of making Dom smile had kept him going (as well as the occasional half hour nap). It was two in the afternoon by the time Dom finally woke up, and he was fast to be greeted by Digby who had been in the room with him. The now quite large dog jumped up onto the bed and began to give Dom loving and sloppy kisses, having not seen his second owner in so long the pooch was very excited to say the least. Dom hugged and held Digby happily before he got himself out of bed. Unsuspecting of anything Lofty had set up whilst he slept, Dom walked out of the bedroom and into the living room only to see a bizarre sight in front of him: Christmas lights were hung about the four corners of the room, tinsel hung from shelves,Tv and every surface that could possibly be tinselled in Lofty’s living room, there was a rather large and ornamented tree in the middle of the room, a few presents and gifts tucked neatly underneath it, for a while Dom was confused till Lofty walked into the living room wearing a christmas jumper.

 

“Lofty,” Began Dom, “What’s this?” Despite being utterly confused, he was grinning from ear to ear like a cheshire cat.

 

“Well, we missed stuff whilst we were apart, so I thought we’d go back in time for a little bit to celebrate them!”

 

“How did you do all this?” Asked Dom, signalling to the whole living room in awe.

 

“No time for questions!” Exclaimed Lofty excitedly, “Firstly! We are celebrating Christmas, although I don’t have the supplies or ability to make a roast dinner.” Lofty then grabbed the remote to his CD player, which began blasting out classic Christmas tunes, Dom chuckled as Lofty sat him down next to the tree.

 

“Are these all for me?”

 

“Every single one! I think you’ll like what I managed to get.”

 

Dom _loved_ what Lofty had gotten him: a new watch, a nice pair of new earphones, running gear, a cup for his coffee that he could keep at Lofty’s apartment, tickets to see his favourite band and one last present - a present that meant the world to Dom and then some (but one he originally hadn’t noticed was there at first). As he hugged Lofty and thanked him for the presents the young nurse spoke:

 

“I think, there’s another one there for you.” He offered as he directed Dom’s gaze to a small square package packed right at the back of the tree, Dom wouldn’t have noticed it if it hadn’t been for Lofty pointing it out.

 

Dom grabbed the box from under the tree: it was rather flat, like a 2D square but quite thick, he looked at Lofty with slight confusion (having no idea as to what it could be). As he unwrapped it Lofty began to speak:

 

“After you left, I went to your place a couple of times to dust and clean and keep the pipes from freezing, like you asked me to. Whilst I was there one time, I noticed you’d left something in your bedroom on the side table.”

 

As Lofty’s sentence finished Dom opened the box (which had been what the square shape was), to see Arthur’s medal. But it wasn’t quite like he’d last left it - it had been fixed. Back to its former glory and shiny looking, the medal was no longer broken, and probably just as good as the day Arthur had first received it.

 

“Lofty…” Began Dom, but his words were fast to fade.

 

“I had a feeling it was important to you, so I gave Essie and Sacha a text, they said it was Arthur’s. They said it wasn’t always broken, that someone had damaged it but they never said who. Well, anyway, I wanted to fix it for you. Is that alright?”

 

Dom looked up from the box that had Arthur’s fixed medal inside, “It’s perfect.” He answered with a beaming smile. He shuffled on the floor and made his way over to Lofty and hugged him very tightly, his chest went taught as he tried to hold back bittersweet tears of sadness and joy. Dom felt Lofty was quick to hug back, he reciprocated the hug warmly, but gentle too. The pair hugged each other for a long time before being interrupted by Digby’s barking. Whilst Lofty gave Dom his presents, Digby had been quite good at being quiet and letting the moment happen, but eventually the puppy grew energetic and seeked attention as quickly as he could get it; leaping off the couch he’d been lying on to go over to Dom.

 

“Aw I’ve missed you too Digby! Look how big you’ve gotten! I’m surprised you still remember me.”

 

“With a face like that who could forget you?” Smiled Lofty.

 

“You spoil me Nurse Chiltern!” Replied Dom, laughing heartily, “Seriously though, you do, I feel bad I don’t have anything with me to give you for second Christmas. All my gifts for you are in my apartment.”

 

“You being safe is more than enough.” Replied Lofty, smiling, “Come on! There’s still one more surprise.”

 

“Really? Right, okay let me leave the presents on the dining table - so Digby doesn’t get at them.”

 

“Good idea.” Agreed Lofty as he took of his Christmas jumper to reveal the T-Shirt he had on underneath, “Right, follow me.”

 

“Where are we travelling back to now?”

 

“You’ll find out.”

 

Dom happily followed Lofty to Digby’s room, to which Dom was slightly confused:

 

“Lofty, this is Digby’s room.”

 

“It’s temporarily not. That's why I put him in the bedroom this morning - plus I didn't want him to knock over the tree.”

 

“What’s in here?”

 

“Well you’re gonna have to find out.” Replied Lofty was a devilishly sweet smile, he opened the door and the pair walked in, and again Dom was taken aback: in the middle of the room was a table with a bottle of champagne and two glasses, the room itself was decorated with simple red and pink decorations, and pictures of the pair were pinned to the four walls, on the far wall of the room hung a large banner saying “Happy One Year Anniversary!”

 

“I know it’s not much…” Stated Lofty, “But I didn’t have much time between remaking Christmas and our first year Anniversary. Now, I do have a table at your favourite restaurant booked for tomorrow evening, you were meant to be getting all this tomorrow before everything with Oscar happened. But because of everything with Oscar, I thought you could do with a pick me up now.”

 

“Lofty, you did all this for me?”

 

“Yeah, well, and me. I didn’t want to miss Christmas _and_ our Anniversary, it’s not quite the real thing but it’s the next best option I had - since I don’t really have a time machine. Is this all alright?”

 

As Dom took in everything about the room his smiled profusely, he probably looked insane with how large his grin was but he didn’t care - he was so deliriously happy he didn’t care who would see that. As Lofty finished his sentence Dom sharply turned to face him, and (doing the only thing he could think of doing apart from simply saying “Thank you.”) kissed Lofty sweetly, his appreciation of Lofty’s actions showing in his intimacy. Lofty was happy and quick to return the favour. After the two pulled away from it Dom spoke again.

 

“I love you so much, you know that right?”

 

“Of course I do, and I love you too.”


	16. A New Fairytale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember this story? me too! I am so sorry about the lack of updates on this, I've had so many stories on the go I lost track and time!

Lofty had been wanting to ask for a long time, but had kept his mouth shut, he wanted Dom to ask him first. Not because he was stubborn, but because if Dom asked him then he knew Dom was really ready to take the next step in their relationship. It wasn’t something he wanted to rush, he didn’t want it to be something that scared Dom, he wanted it to be natural  - he wanted to live together with Dom. Whether that be Dom moving in with him or him moving in with Dom he didn’t mind (he knew Dom had enough space for his dog Digby too), he just wanted be that little but closer to Dom, even if it meant they annoyed the life out of each other. He wanted that feeling of knowing he was going to wake up every day on his side of the bed to find Dom sleeping happily right next to him, he wanted to know what it was like to make breakfast and get ready for work whilst knowing someone else (someone he really trusted) was getting ready right along with him. But he also knew that it had to be on Dom’s word and in Dom’s own time, he knew he was prepared to wait.

 

It was a dreary Saturday, early morning start, the dark winter mornings and early nights beginning to fade from the calendar as the New Year had long begun. It was February, just about to turn March, 2018 - a time for new starts and possibilities. Lofty lazily got out of bed, silently disapproving of the empty space that was next to him on the mattress, and started getting ready for work: shower and hair before getting dressed and grabbing breakfast. Dom hadn’t been able to stay over the night before due to work hours, he had a late finish and would’ve felt guilty if he woke Lofty up trying to get in the apartment. Dom had a key to Lofty’s place; Lofty had a key to Dom’s place.

 

 _We practically live together already._ Lofty thought to himself as he left his apartment and headed out to get to work (having already fed Digby) - cycling as per usual. For the millionth time he took in the sights that whirled past him as he sped by on his two wheels, he looked at how foreboding and grey the sky looked, and felt the crisp decaying leaves crackle under his bike tyres. Spring was settling in. When he arrived at work he chained his bike up and walked into the building before grabbing the elevator up to Keller, when he arrived he walked in on Dom and Essie gossiping excitedly:

 

“What do I tell him?”

 

“Just tell him the truth!” Replied Essie excitedly.

 

“But how do I tell him?”

 

“Just say-” Began Essie before she spotted Lofty at the doorway, “Lofty! Morning.”

 

“Morning, don’t mind me, what were you two talking about?” He could see Dom looked flustered at his arrival, and Essie shifted uncomfortably, looking as if she had something to hide.

 

“Nothing.” Replied Dom and Essie in perfect unison before turning back around in their chairs.

 

Lofty stood there on his own, slightly confused, before shrugging his shoulders to himself and heading over to the staff changing room to put on his scrubs for work. After making his way out onto the ward he made his way over to Dom to start his shift, he heard the quiet drone and buzz of the hospital hum in his ears (like it always did) as he made his way over to Dom.

 

“I never did get a good morning from you.” Began Lofty, being as unsubtle as humanly possible.

 

“Oh, god, sorry love.” Apologised Dom, smirking as he gave Lofty a peck on the cheek, “Good morning.”

 

“Good morning to you too.” Smiled back Lofty.

 

“Look,” Began Dom, changing the subject, “I was wondering if we could talk at lunch? I need to ask you something.”

 

“Oh, is everything okay?”

 

“Everything’s perfect, I just need to ask you something.”

 

“Well then, I look forward to it! I have to go make a start on my rounds, but I’ll see you later.”

 

“See you later then.” Replied Dom, at least trying to smile a little.

 

The rest of the day leading up to their lunch hour was spent with Dom on tenterhooks and Lofty trying to play Sherlock and piece the puzzle together. Dom was almost jumpy as the hours ticked by on the clock, at one point Essie walked up behind him and he jolted a little. As the first half of the day progressed, Dom and Lofty didn’t see all that much of one another since Dom fully book all shift for surgeries. But Lofty didn’t mind; he knew Dom was doing something he loved and that was all that mattered, by now the thought of moving in with Dom had been forcibly driven out of his mind because he was so busy. Dom was talking to Sacha when the grey haired Consultant had asked him to run to the pharmacy and grab some prescriptions (since the Nurses on ward were either too backed up with work or not there); after heading out of the ward Dom began making his way down all the stairs, he’d decided against the elevator in order to be more healthy, and as he made his way down Lofty came up behind him:

 

“Dom! How come you’re-”

 

But Lofty’s words were soon cut off by Dom jumping in surprise, having fumbled over his own feet in the heat of the moment, Dom felt his gut twist as he saw himself plummeting towards the foot of the stairs.

 

 _It’s going to happen again._ Dom though to himself as he fell. Till he stopped falling.

 

It was a split second reaction from Dom, sensing himself falling, and it was a split second reaction from Lofty -  having caught Dom as quickly as he did. Albeit it wasn’t in the most romantic fashion, or in any way like the movies: where the person falling is saved by an intimate arm round the waist and a loving look of direct eye contact; Dom was falling face first when he stumbled, all Lofty could do was grab the handrail (to make sure he didn’t fall too in an effort to grab Dom) and only just grab Dom round the middle and sharply tug him back to safety. But Dom didn’t mind, it didn’t have to be like in the movies, nothing in their relationship had to be like in the movies, he was just relieved was wasn’t going to end up covered in bruises from the fall. And he was especially relieved to know it was Lofty that had caught him.

 

“Jesus Dom, are you alright?” Asked Lofty, a tone of concern in his voice.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Dom apologised as he steadied himself on the stairs again.

 

“Don’t apologise, I just don’t want you getting hurt is all, I felt my heart go to my stomach.”

 

“Well, thank you for catching me.”

 

“I could never just let you fall.”

 

“I know, I trust you too much to think otherwise.” Replied Dom, his heart rate slowing back down to normal.

 

“Where are you off to now?”

 

“I need to pick up medication, after that it’s my lunch break.”

  
“I’ve just started mine, if I help you get the medication, we can have that chat you wanted quicker.”

 

“Sounds good.” Responded Dom, unease sounded in his voice. As much as he did want to live with Lofty, he wasn’t sure if Lofty would say yes - after what happened with Alice and Lenny he might think Dom was going too quickly. And the last thing Dom wanted was to scare Lofty off, he loved him to much to lose him over some moving boxes.

 

After gathering the medication and dropping it off on Keller the pair made their way to Pulses for lunch; their routine had developed into them alternating days where they’d buy lunch - it was Lofty’s turn that day. Once they found a table for two Lofty went up to the counter to make the order, whilst he waited to collect the food Dom sat at the table and pondered on what he would say to Lofty about moving in together, how he would even bring it up:

 

“ _I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”  -_ although true, too cheesy.

 

 _“Get your stuff and move in with me.”_ \- too abrupt.

 

 _“I’m ready for the next step in our relationship.”_ \- this seemed to be the best one he would come up with.

 

Eventually Lofty sa himself back down opposite Dom at the table with the order: one tea, one coffee, two sandwiches and a donut to split after (since they planned on ordering take out that night, they didn’t want to overeat before hand). Dom gave his thanks and took his coffee, the bitter smell of caffeine seemed to send his nerves into overdrive rather than sooth them, so he put the drink back down - which Lofty noticed.

 

“Is the coffee bad? I can ask them to make you another one?” He offered.

 

“No need, really, it’s fine - thank you.”

 

“No problem.” Replied Lofty before taking a sip of his tea, “What was that thing you wanted to talk about with me?”

 

It was time. He had to say it, Lofty had brought it up, it was now or never.

 

“Lofty…” Began Dom, “I don’t know how to say this, I don’t know how to put it into words.”

 

Lofty immediately seemed on edge, nervous, “Are you breaking up with me?”

 

“What? No, I could never do that!” Exclaimed Dom.

 

“Oh thank God for that.” Replied Lofty with a sigh of relief and a smile.

 

“I do have something to ask you though.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Right, well… the thing is,” Dom seemed entirely lost for words, but as soon as he looked at Lofty he seemed to know exactly what to say, “you just make me so happy. And I never thought I’d get to feel like this, like I even deserved it. Everyday you manage to make my time on this earth better and better, and I can’t thank you enough for that. We’ve only been dating for a year and a half but I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. But because you make me so happy I want more, I know that sounds selfish but I do. Lofty, if you’re as ready as I am, would you please live with me? Permanently?”

 

For a while Lofty didn’t say anything, not a single syllable. Contrary to his normal behaviours his facial expression gave no hints at what he was feeling, and Dom felt himself shrink in his chair as he allowed the tips of his fingers to be scorched by the cup of coffee in his hand. _Is he going to say no? He’s going to say no isn't he?_ Dom thought to himself as he tried to figure Lofty out. This silence stood there for a long while, unsure if it should stay or leave, it shifted uneasily. Till finally, something changed. Lofty’s face broke out into a smile and before long he had his head resting in his arms against the table, taking in big breaths of air.

 

“I never thought you’d ask….” Murmured Lofty between his breathing, “I’ve wanted to ask you for a long while.”

  
“Why didn’t you?”

 

“I wanted you to be ready. I didn’t want to scare you or make you think I was rushing into things.”

 

“So is that a yes on the moving in thing?”

 

“Completely.” Replied Lofty, looking up from the table and straight at Dom, “Thank you.”

 

“I should be the one thanking you really.”

 

Lofty chuckled a little, euphoric with joy, “Should we talk more about this tonight at my place?”

 

“Definitely.”

 

Eventually the pair managed to control their excitement and finish their lunch, the idea of talking more about it when they got home going out of the window, they instead chatted away about it the whole lunch time. They both felt a strong feeling in the pits of their stomachs - excitement. Dom and Lofty both understood that this was only a new chapter to their story together, one chapter in a book made of hundreds of them, but for them it also seemed like the start of a whole new story: a story they could not wait to start together.

**Author's Note:**

> I've probably still got mistakes there somewhere, so feel free to call me out on them!


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